The Undead knight (svtfoe)
by DentedCouger
Summary: This story is ultimately Star vs Marco since I love the theory of them being enemies. Marco has had enough of Stars unintentionally bad treatment of him. He wanna break the blood moon curse and be free, he meets the gods Luna and Solis. They help him by turning him into an undead knight, whatever that means. At the same time, they pull him into their conflict.
1. Chapter 1

Marco laid on his bed, tired from doing squire errands and helping Star, his eyes becoming watery. _Why am I so stressed? This is nothing, I should be used to this life? Being worked to the bone, being the royal squire helping her with her quest for mewman and monster coexistence, being the squire of the wash and I had stopped her night walking. I am used to this lifestyle of always helping but something is different now. Is it because of Tom and Star? NO, I am not in love with my best friend, It is this..this blood moon curse I must lift it. _Marco was determined and unwavering on what to do, he could not let things be as they are.

He requested a vacation, Star frowned at the demand, Marco could clearly see that she wasn't pleased with the request and she denied it, "Marco I really need you, can't you wait to get your vacation, I can't unite monsters and mewmans without you, besides you have only worked as my squire for a couple of weeks and the night walking is gone now."

"please it has been a little over a month," He says playfully before taking a serious tone. "besides Star this vacation isn't to relax, it's to break the curse of the blood moon."

"Marco why, the blood moon curse is a load of bullshit anyway if it's true how come I'm with Tom, huh." She snarls, she felt a little guilty denying him his request, but she knew that she had done much, giving him a place to stay and a job, begrudgingly accepting him living in her castle.

Marco just stared at her as he realizes, the feeling of fear rushing over him, _She's right why am I the only one affected? am I even affected? I have to be right? If anything I need to research this, even more now. _His eyes beginning to glints with fear, if he really has feelings for Star, he will have to keep his life in misery he knows that he can't leave Stars side not when she said she needs him. He began begging. "Star I'm begging you, I need to do this, this is for the both of us, please I'm begging you."

"Marco why is this so important? Why try to break a curse that may or may not be real? Are you-"Star could not withstand seeing Marco as he pleads. " Arh, Fine Marco you get one week alright."

"thank you Star, a week is all I need."Marco was hiding the shocked at how far he should go, he thought that he deserved a vacation. _Star is probably just scared of the thought of me being gone and leaving her campaign to her self. _

Marco got a week vacation. He woke up early, as usual, ate breakfast with Moon, River and Star. He and Star ate Captains Blanche's sugar seeds, their favorite breakfast cereals, River ate like there were no tomorrow, stuffing his face with multiple corns and Moon ate elegantly. Star and Marco silently discussing what would be the most efficient thing Star can do when he is taking a break."So what are you planning on doing today, dear."

"I'm..uhh going to just hang out with Tom and Ponyhead." Star said dancing around the question, Moon noticed it, but she had already too much to think about so she ignored it, the butterfly kingdom was still under reconstructing and in a state of confusion, after Toffees defeat.

Marco excusing for his early leave, he went to the laundry room in the castle subbasement. He had only requested vacation from being the royal squire, he was still on duty as squire of the wash and he liked it, Lavabo was the first who recognized him for his talent and treated him fair in the castle. As he walked to his destination he could see that the staff of the kingdom especially the squires and knights was all glaring at him, he sighted there were only a few who treated him just in the castle.

"Hey Lavabo, what are my quest today."Marco hoped it wasn't washing, the washing machine was driven only by manpower, it was hard, tedious but the reward was Lavabo teaching him how to wash the different clothes to perfection and a predictable development that Marco didn't notice, only after Star commented on it, did he see that he was actually becoming quite muscular, his nacho belly was gone, in fact he had an apparent sixpack, however still way inferior compared to his adult body in H-poos dimension.

"Good day, Marco it is the weekly cleaning day today, you only need to take care of the Lint monster."

"Yeah, sure no problem." The Lint monster is a fierce monster, one should not let the name fool you, Marco learn that the hard way, but lately Marco could beat it with no major injuries. Marco looked confident until he saw Lavabos eyes filled with worry. Marco began to feel nervous, began sweating a little.

"Marco this is not the same lint monster, this is a magical lint monster."Marco wondered why it now was a magical monster, he thought a monster made of lint was already magical, Lavabo as if he read Marco's mind answered. "It is magical because this week we washed magic inbound clothes, and the lint the monster is made of is lint infused with magic."

" What is the difference between the monsters and what is magic inbound clothes." To Lavabos surprise Marco looked rather curious than afraid. And a little upset? Marco was a little disappointed that Lavabo was so worried.

"The main difference is it is fanning the fan will not kill it, and it is definitely stronger, how strong I do not know, it all depends on the quality of the magic lint, but if you defeat the monster you can become a knight of the wash, it is after all the last trial." Marco was shooked with misery in his eyes of what it will bring if he became a knight.

"How can I become a knight already, does it not take years, is there not a certain process one should follow." Marco quickly spat out. _Almost all of my fellow staff hate me because they think I'm exploiting the fact that my best friend is a princess. I have literally liberated Butterfly kingdom if I wasn't there River would have partied the kingdom to ruin and still, I get treated like shit. Who knows what the disdain will evolve into if I became a knight after being a squire after only a month._

"Oh Marco, there is a process but you have already completed them, and yes it can take years, just look at Old guy squire, but doesn't have to, the most important thing for a squire to granted knighthood is to be strong, and that you are." Lavabo smirking of the fact he has such a great squire.

"Alright, I'm off now." Marco sighted but still confident, Lavabo gave him a look of approval and nodded.

Marco went into the air system, _hmmm sparkling more than usual, but no unusual amount of lint so at least it's not gonna get bigger, than normal. There is a weird pressure, the air if I'm not careful I'll cough and wake the monster up. It feels like I'm in the mine of the Pixies. _Marco shudders at the thought of the misadventure that it was, but also smiles, it was that day he became mess up twins with Star._ It was nice having that bond but now I..I... wait what was I thinking again. _

The lint all begin to move, becoming a hill of lint, easily 4 times the height of Marco. A silly little head with a smirk comes off the tip of the hill, it's wearing a torn beanie, the hill moves growing bigger, it's now 10 times the height of Marco. Four eyes appear under the silly head, a mouth that opens as wide as the gate of a castle, three rows off teeth, and the shark teeth like teeth are huge and crude, the mouth alone sends sharks fleeing in shame. The monster then grows six long tentacles.

The monster was terrifying to look at, the old Marco would be shitting his pants at the sight, the monsters roar was bone-chilling, even now Marco can't help but feel a shiver down his spine. The roar promptly turned into a screech, just like nails against a blackboard. It's long tentacles swinging aimlessly, hitting the walls and ceiling, while it is shrinking. Suddenly two small golden tentacles explode from the lint monster, the shrinking lint monster was dead silent but still swinging its tentacles. Marco noticed the lint monster was not shrinking, but being absorbed by the presumably magical lint monster.

Marco was staggered, his heartbeat raising and he was trembling however he was excited not afraid. _This electrifying feeling, it's been so long since I have felt this, been so long since adrenaline has been pumping through my veins. Am I becoming a battle maniac? _The once giant pink lint monster was now gone, there was only one thing left, a 12-foot golden lint monster, the monster was not saggy like the pink lint monster. The monster then began to shrink, Marco was confused but noticed that the monster was transforming or rather evolving, the lint was becoming threads, it was not a lint monster anymore, it was now a thread monster.

What stood in front of Marco was now 7-foot in height, its shape was of a human, however, no arms and no head, it had two eyes each of the shoulders, and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and two tentacles were coming off each of the shoulders tips.

The monster wasted no time roaring it swings its tentacles at Marco, he sidesteps the first swing and blocks the second, he could have dodged the other but he wanted to feel how strong and how hard its body was. Even with Marcos guard up, he could feel a blue mark was forming on his arm._ Holy corn, shit this monster packs a punch,_ I_ should at all cost avoid a direct hit_. The monster didn't come closer it keeps attacking at a distance, Marco kept dodging and was smirking, _perhaps the magical thing just means it has a brain. _

Marco sidestepped another but before the monster could retract it, he held on to the tentacle, pulled out his dimensional scissor from his hoody pocket. He jumps off and lands on its shoulder, Marcos' wrist was grabbed by a tentacle before he could stab its eyes, he switched the scissor from righthand to lefthand, and cut through the thread but the scissor could not cut just compress. The scissor he was so proud of, was sharp and strong enough to cut rock without as much as a scratch.

Marco ducked as a swing was coming for him, his wrist still grabbed. _The monster isn't stupid enough to accidentally hit itself. T_he swings were only from side to side never down. The monster annoyed it could not hit Marco slammed him back first into the ceiling, not letting go of the wrist and slammed him into the floor. Marco's face was in the ground, blood came from his mouth, it hurts him even to breathe, definitely a few broken ribs_._

The monster swings Marco in the air over itself, swinging him faster and faster. Marco took his scissors and squished the tentacle that holds him, the grip loosened his wrist slipping out of the grip, sends him flying across the room into the door exit. _I can escape... I can- no, I can't, I can't betray Lavabos expectation, if I can't beat this monster, how can I ever hope to beat another like Toffee if I lose now, I'm not fit to be at Stars side._

Marco stood up despite his body begging him to stop, coughing up blood, swallowing blood, he limping toward the monster. The monster had turned it's back toward Marco, it was absorbing lint from the lint-covered fan. Marco noticed a strange light coming from its back, he took his scissors, open a portal behind the monster, he stabs his scissors into the back of the monster, the monster didn't notice being stab, and in the hole he made he saw a crystal, every thread was connected to the crystal, the crystal was emitting a familiar golden light.

_I guess that must be its heart._ Marco thrust his hand in the hole and gripped the crystal. The monster took notice of this and roared swinging its tentacle hitting floor, ceiling, and walls, hitting Marcos and its own back, Marco throws up more blood through his gritted teeth and with all his might he yanks the crystal out from the monster.

A bone-chilling screech came from the monster, its body falling apart, the once-terrifying monster is now only a mess of threads. Marco barely standing looking at the crystal, he sees his own reflection and sees crescent moons on his cheeks.

"Marco, wh-" Star saw his back, multiple whip slashes, shredding his hoody, some flesh was hanging off his back, blood streaming down his back. Marco turned around dropping the crystal and the crescent moons are gone. Marco saw Stars frightened face, her wide eyes filled with guilt and concern, tears flowing down her face. _"I'm sorry Marco, I'm sorry, I should've... I-I can't lose you, I need you, please" _

Marco just smiled at her, not able to hear her, he had an idea what she was saying, properly sorry and the sorts._ she always gets like this when I'm close to death, I hated it now for some reason, she properly saying things like how important I am and the like, but it just hurts now_. "Star calm-" his vision darkened and he collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2

Marco woke up, he laid in an infirmary bed, he tried to sit up, but couldn't, he open his eyes looked toward his torso and he saw Star, she slept, her head bent over his stomach. A giant smile came across his face at the sight, the smile suddenly diminished to a guilty one, he could see she had been crying, her bags under her eyes. He felt guilty pleasure. _Seems like Star still care about me, but why do I have to be at deaths doorstep before she treats- wait what was I thinking about... whatever._

Marco took his blanket off, now covering Stars head, he was bare-chested no shirt only bandages, blushes as he realizes she had been sleeping on his stomach. He blocks the thoughts before they get to adulty as he slitter careful not too awake Star, he had to get up it was as if he had been in a driving car for a week straight. He moves away from Star, supporting her head with his hand as he moves from the bed when he succeeded, he gently put her head on the bed and pads her head softly, as he silently whispers "I'm sorry for doing this to you, but you clearly deserve it". He sees a night table with a sealed note saying, Marco Ubaldo Diaz. He read the note.

Dear Marco, you have passed your final trial as a squire of the wash, come see me when you can as soon as possible, Lavabo the knight of the wash.

Marco took a quick look at Star, before turning around grunting as he felt smarting pain from his wounds, Marco ignored the pain and vent to a painting, looking around to make sure none was around, he pressed the painting in a certain way and it opened like a door. Marco had Eclipsa show him the layout design of the hidden passages, and now Marco was just as good if not better than Eclipsa in moving around the castle.

He quickly headed down the stairs to the subbasement and got out of a painting near the entrance of the laundry room. Marco walked in and was weirded out at the sight, 8 smelly men wearing knight armor different logos and have cleaning gloves in different colors having wild and insane expressions and then Lavabo who had a gentle smile. If Lavabo wasn't there Marco would have turned around and nope it so hard.

"Hey, you wanted to see me, sir" Marco was formal when castle staff was around, he didn't want to act like a big shot and anger the members of a castle, even if the 8 men were not from the Butterfly Kingdom.

"Yes, Marco as you have read, you have completed your trials as a squire of the wash, and we, us knights of the wash from all of Mewni, would give you a gift, this gift is proof that you have completed your training and are worthy of becoming a knight," Lavabo spoke slowly and very clear with a deep voice.

The Knights open a path and he could see a manakin wearing a red hoodie and over the hoodie was a shining chest armor and in the middle of the armor was the crystal from the magical monster. Marco looked at the proud knights "speechless, no matter, your expression tells everything lad" said one of the knights while they all laughed proudly, and a bit too passionate.

"Come, Marco, try it on, it is our gift to you."Marco nodded to Lavabo and walked towards the manakin, he was a bit embarrassed. As soon as he touches the armor the crystal lights up, it startled him and he falls on his ass by surprise and the crystal looked like glass again. He hears whispers from the shocked knights all have widened their eyes like they have seen a ghost.

"The crystal is golden" "What the corn" "Not to mention the size of it as well" The knights discussing with each other, the insane look returning to their faces. Marco looked at Lavabo and to his surprise, Lavaba began laughing, a nice laugh not a crazy one like some of the other men had begun.

"Hahaha, Marco you truly are more than worthy of becoming a knight of the wash. I've never seen a crystal that size or color, just how strong was the creature"

" Its body was as hard as steel, yet it was like treads, even my dimensional scissor couldn't leave a scratch. It had a human form with no arms or head, 2 tentacles from each of its shoulders, I'm gonna have nightmares of it" Marco sighted

"What could the creature do, besides being as hard as steel"

"Nothing else, why do you ask"

"Oh, it's just I thought and hoped it could do more because whatever it could do you can as well and in due time you can improve and invent spells similar to it, but it is strange if it was just hardening, it should rather be greyish, not golden."

Marco bit his under lip, gloomy that it was nothing special and even worse he betrayed Lavabos expected._ I just wanna be someone special like Star, Tom, Kelly, Pony head, arh, maybe not Pony head. _Lavabo noticed the change in Marcos facial expression, he looked just like when he couldn't complete an assignment. His was body sluggish, head hanging a little.

"I'm not disappointed, in fact, I'm really proud of you, you are the best squire I have ever had the pleasure of mentoring. Hardening is a very useful skill and I think that is not all, the crystal is very unique, I'm sure there are more to it."

"Am I not the only squire you have mentored" Marco narrowing his eyes only to let up and smile an awkward smile "Thanks, I'm sure you are right, like always" Lavabo knew Marco had a bit of an insecurity about being useful and living up to expectations, the expectations were usually made by himself.

Marco was about to say more when he got jumped by the knights. They forcefully put the hoody and the armor on him, Marco tried to resist looking at Lavabo for help, but he just shrugged and put his hands in the air like there was nothing he could do.

They let him go, he almost had their gifts on. A shaken Marco had a violated look towards Lavabo, who hardly could contain his laughter. Marco frowned and open his mouth to say something when he got interrupted.

"Lavabo have you seen M-" Star saw Marco between the knight on the ground with his hoody and his golden light emitting armor, half on.

"Star this is not what it looks li-" He lost his breath by Stars tackle who then hugged him tightly on the floor, he hugged back as he could feel tears running down his back. The smarting pain on his back got worse, literally putting salt in the wounds, but he ignored it, the only feeling he focuses on was Stars touch.

"Marco, I'm so so sorry, it is all my fault, I should have never ever given you this job, but you came so sudden and I couldn't just turn you away after all you have done for me, still I should've known it could be so dangerous, I am sorry-" Star cried, she was a complete emotional mess, tears running down her cheek, her bags under her bloodshot eyes were slightly red and beginning to feel off from drying her tears away and her sour frowning facial expression made her extremely ugly, like Ludo almost looks prettier than her. (sorry couldn't resist)

Normally Marco would comfort a crying person without hesitation, he would give all the comfort he could, but what she said, for most people would have been heart-warming, a moment one could look back at, happy, but in reality, all it did was snapping something in him.

"You bitch, I thought I was made a squire because I was your best friend not because you owed it to me, but now I know, it was so you wouldn't feel bad. You didn't even feel worried that I was unconscious, no, you felt guilty." Marco shouted out in one breath, he had a livid expression on his face, as he pushed the shooked Star off him, glared at her.

He wanted to keep going but couldn't like there was a power that prevented him from saying any more, things that were not directly connected to this moment, how she had been treating him, things he never thought about before, but somehow still was familiar, like thoughts that had been kept hidden.

Star mind was racing 200 mph, never had Marco cursed at her, never had Marco showed so much anger, never had Marcos deep brown eyes frightened her, his eyes were of anger and hatred but behind it was hurt and disappointment, but what hit her the hardest was the use of the word "was" your best friend.

"I can't even remember that you have thanked me for all I have done, you just expect it out of me since I'm your royal squire, our relationship is not even that of friends anymore, we are more like master and servant."

She was at a loss of words, she opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn't, the more she thought about it, the lower her head got, she can't look him in the eyes, he was right. She recalled how he let her stay in his home, how he had helped her so many times it was hard to keep track off, while she also saved him it was always her fault that he was in that mess, in truth, there have only been about three times he made a mess that she helped clean up and he always let her know how appreciated he was, but she never did it back. But there was one thing she couldn't understand, she had always treated him like a friend, right? Their bonds haven't changed, have they?

Marco still staring at her, waited a few moments before taking her silence as an answer " I quit, I'm not a royal squire, I'm not your servant anymore, I'm just a stranger"

"Wait..." Star knew she couldn't let it end this way, but she doesn't know what to say, so she says the only thing she can say her feelings. "Marco, please, I'm sorry, don't leave I...I-I need y-"

"Don't...just don't." Marco interrupts,a sad, pained face overtook his livid expression, before taking on an emotionless face and an obvious, fake kind smile, like when you accidentally catch eye contact with a friend of a friend, who you don't really like, but don't wanna be rude. "I hope you can forgive me for my rudeness, your highness, but I will not listen or act upon your needs, I quit, that's not up for debate princesses Star." Marco bowed mockingly before stomping off, he needed to get away, he just needed to be alone right now.

Star felt her heart goes in her stomach, she couldn't stand to hear Marco being so formal it was not natural, it was not right, it was just plain wrong.

Lavabo who heard and saw it all unfold, was confused and shocked, he just couldn't understand, he tried to call after Marco, but could only manage a whisper, he knew he had to scold Marco, but after seeing Marco, even if Marco had insulted royalty, he couldn't bring himself to do anything.

The other knights were in disbelief , they couldn't even begin to think what it was like to be in Lavabo's shoes, they knew what Lavabo had told them, how highly Lavabo thought of him, how much Marco meant to him and now the very same boy had not only insulted the royal princess but left her in an emotional breakdown.

Star was still on her knees, staring into the air, where Marco once was, still crying, too shocked to do anything when suddenly a door was slammed and pulled her back to reality, instinctively she ran toward the door out of the laundry room, but he was nowhere to be seen, she ran up the stairs, it was the only way up from the subbasement, she thought.

Marco walked in the dark hidden passage only lit by a few light balls, he didn't know what they were and didn't care. He began crying, he didn't know why, he should only be angry, mad and spiteful but he just silently cried letting out all the frustration and pain he has been felling for the past month, feelings he didn't know he had been holding in.

_Star really only let me stay because she owned me, I actually thought she would want me to be here, __how naive I am, we aren't on Earth where she depends on me, I'm discardable, not of any use, not worthy of being friends with and so she discarded me._

"Marco" he could hear a voice, stopping his train of thoughts, he looked around trying to find the source, but it didn't come from anywhere and at the same time it was everywhere until he realized it was in his head, there was an unfamiliar voice in his head. He forced himself to stop crying, wiping away his tears.

"Come over here, my dancer" He looks fanatic around until his eyes lock on red colored light coming through an opening, the openings were meant so one could get out and in unnoticed, it was build so the royal family could flee if the castle were too fall, but were only used by a former assassin unit, at least that was what Eclipsa had told him.

The light was calming, made him feel safe, comforting, he walked straight to the light like a moth, no regards to what was in his head, if it was dangerous, right now he just needed salvation from it all.

He was a few feet away from the light, saw the red moon as he stretched his arm out to touch the moonlight on contact he couldn't help but close his eyes and feel the moonlight, it made his soul lighter. He looked like he was about to bust a nut. (hehe)

When he opened his eyes, there was a breathtakingly gorgeous woman in the moonlight, she wore a burning red dress revealing the sides of her legs and hips where you could see the strips of her crimson-colored panties. Having long, silky red hair with an almost doll-like face. Her curves were out of this world, only Hekapoos body could be justifiable compared to the woman before him. He blushes uncontrollably and needed a second to compose himself before taking a defensive fighting stance.

"W-who are you" Marco already had a pretty good guess of who was in front of him, but he just wanted to be sure.

"Still the safety kid i see," the woman chuckled." My name is Luna Sanguis and I am the Bloodmoon goddess." As she said proudly, the red moonlight got intense and began to sparkle a little.

"Hey, you gotta break the Bloodmoon curse" Marco shouted in an outburst, he didn't know what he said, he had a chance to break this curse, and he'll be damn if he didn't try.

Luna frowned "It's not a curse it's a blessing, don't let the demons overhaul fool you, only two souls with deep affection can be bonded, fated to be walking the path of life together, that can only be described as a blessing."

Marco could fell his blood boil. "You call what I've only have been suffered from all this time, a blessing, it's been nothing but a-"

"Shut your insolent mouth, I have graced you with my presence to answer your questions and help you undo the blessing." Her voice sharp and absolute. She made a hand gesture and a book landed in front of Marco, it's title simply Marco.

Marco hesitantly took the book and began to read, it was his handwriting, it was just like a diary, full of his thoughts that he never could finish or rather weren't allowed to finish. Written in there about how he felt about the butterfly kingdom, how he felt about Star and Tom, how selfish she was never having any regards for Marco and what caught his attention the most was the sentence I wanna leave or I should've never come here, they were there once every page all having a different reasoning.

"This book has been storing all the thoughts that would ultimately direct you to a new path void off Star." Marco's veins popping on his forehead, shaking with rage, never had he been so mad if she didn't have his answers he would kill her right where she stood.

"How dare you calling it a blessing, stealing Stars... stealing our choices, forcing us to be with each other, forcing me to chase after her."

Before Marco could say any more, Luna laughs heartwarmingly ignoring Marcos hostility "Not mad for your self but for Star, who you claim to be nothing more but a stranger, you humans sure are complicated creatures." Luna's voice sounding amused.

"Now to answer your questions, that are plaguing your mind, confused one."

**Don't expect updates so rapidly, it's only because I'm about to go on vacation and wanted to finish this chapter so it could stop plaguing my mind.**

**Hope you enjoy.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I've decided to make thoughts more obvious since the way I handled inner monologue took a lot of unnecessary time and this way is more simple. There's a lot of dialogue, my biggest weakness. None the less, enjoy.**

* * *

"Yes, I can hear your thoughts, ever since you got the privilege of being bonded, however, I will admit your binding with Star Butterfly is quite... unique and can see a reason to why you wish to undo my blessing." Her eyes darkened a little while having a sympathetic face.

Marco stood in front of her, his anger dwelled down, how could it not, the goddess who sounded so sincere, but he still wanted answers.

"If you see the last page of your book, there is no more space to keep your thoughts hidden, it's why you emotionally are breaking down, normally you would not notice that you were guided-"

"Manipulated" Marco cough. Luna just rolled her eyes as she continued.

"To keep it brief, there no more storage, therefore, I forcefully took your thoughts, but no longer, now I'm graciously aiding you with the unbinding."

Marco narrowed his eyes, doesn't matter who, everyone has a hidden intention, no one acts of the good of their hearts, he learned that the hard way. Marco remembered when he foolishly trusted the castle staffs, only to be humiliated, beaten, turn into a laughing stock, he used to give the benefit of the doubt hoping not all were rotten to the core, but after being disappointed and betrayed over and over again, he can't help but think the worst of people, and naturally that applied to higher beings.

"First stop reading my mind, second why undo something you call a blessing, something you clearly adore, what do you stand to gain."

"I'm sick of what my power has turned into, it was once a way to have a guaranteed happy marriage and family between two lovers, a blessing. Now it's a way to manipulate just like Tom Lucitor tried on Star Butterfly. And another reason is my twin brother, Solis Obscuratus, the god of the solar eclipse, he has taken notice of your determination, talent, and heart, he wishes to speak with you, and is the only one who can help you unbind my power."

Marco gulped, he knew better than to trust a divinity, but what she spoke dipped in so concentrated hate and disdain, it couldn't be a lie, and he didn't really have a choice. "I'll meet him after my questions"

Luna expression turned 180, into smiled, to indicate he should continue.

"Why am I the only one affected of the blood moon." His voice high pitched a little, afraid of the answer.

"you are not the only one, she was affected once, right after she left earth, she was so broken that it resulted in a mild obsession with you, smelling a beyond filthy red hoody of yours. But she now resists the blessing, because of her raw magical prowess, however, fret not she will be affected again." Luna sounding very amused.

Marco hid his annoyance. "What length will your binding go to force Star and me together and is it possible to break the bond without your brothers help."

"The binding will ultimately turn you two insane, you had the early sign of it being in effect, first emotional outburst, then obsession, where you'll end up making a mannequin of Star and her family, dreaming they are real until you go insane and kill every- "

"Stop, I get it, answer the other question," Marco shouted, not wanting to hear what he could have come.

"haha, so innocent, enjoy it while you can Marco." Marco couldn't help but feel a cold running down his spine, the last part wasn't hostile, but rather it was just fact.

She then continues in a nonchalant voice. "There are two other options, simpler and less troublesome than accepting my brother's aid, the first is death to Star Butterfly, the second option cut your bounded souls, but be wary if you are just a millimeter off you will both die, a horrible and painful death."

Marco paled at the answer, there was only one way to unbind them and he now knows, he and Star were truly at the mercy of this solar eclipse god.

"You do understand, there is a hidden fourth, the best and obvious option, to stop your suffering, accept the blessing and make Star yours," Luna completely serious.

"And rob her of her choice and destroy her life, no thanks," Marco's words powered by anger.

Luna sighed "Such complicated creatures" She then completely changed mood "Alright let us go to my place, you may even spend the night in my bed," Luna said playfully, winking at him, trying to make him embarrassed, worked but he didn't show it, to her disappointment yet also amusement.

She opened a portal, which Marco walked into instantly without saying a word. "Wait, Marco" she shouted but she was too late, Marco had already walked through the portal.

The room he entered was like a giant living room, with red chandeliers over a pitch-black couch. Outside the window was the blackness of the night, but no stars could be spotted it was as if the sky itself was sleeping.

Marcos attention toward Luna, he would be surprised, if not for an ominous man beside her sitting in a black leather chair, he had handsome features with black hair, and in a black outfit, his total pitch-black eyes were sucking Marcos gaze, to his terror in like a black hole, but worst of all was his aura. The man was like the incarnation of death, no even worse, if Tom's mother could be compared to the devil, the ruler of the underworld, then this man who Marco stared right into, was like the incarnation of the underworld itself.

Death was nothing new to Marco, he had killed many monstrous creatures including other mewmans and had self been close to biting the dust on multiple occasion. Marco had already conquered his fears of death a long time ago, but this was completely different, yet not, like death wouldn't be the end, only the beginning if he was killed by this being. His instinct told him to run, but this was his only chance to save himself and Star from the binding. His determination was for the first time not enough, the infighting of his emotion left him frozen.

"If I move forward, I'll meet a fate worse than death, but I have to, no matter what I have to move forward, no more wishing of the past, no more chasing Star, I have to walk my own path even if I meet a fate worse than death," Marco thought, pep-talking himself.

Yet, it was not enough, he was terrified, the seconds between him and the incarnation of hell felt like minutes. But if his determination wasn't enough then he'll use hope, compassion, even the power of love and friendship, but still... not enough.

"Foolish boy, you can't act on broken feelings. To change your fate, you must first change yourself and only then, can you truly try to change your fate. What drove you away from Star, what changed in you?" The man voice crude and absolute, very fitting to its owner.

Every word struck Marco "What drove me from Star? What changed in me? It was... it was... it was what I apparently had been feeling, like how infuriating and frustrating it was never going on an adventure to have fun, just every Tuesday, the day where I don't have to work, but no she dumps Gloss on me, sent me to work on coexistence or the best of them all, forcing me to be the 3. Wheel, no it's not that, it was the realization that Stars view of me was no different than that of the castle staff." Marco recalled in his head.

Marco closed his eyes, thought of the castle staff, "the pieces of shits, who all have prejudged and resented me for not being mewman, beaten me, humiliated me and played with my trust."

He thought of Tom, "Tom that bastard, if he didn't fucking use the blood moon curse, I wouldn't be here in the first place or question every single good memory I have with Star, like did they only happened because of the blood moon manipulation.

And lastly Star, "Star... My former best friend, now the bane of all my suffering and she didn't even notice until now, am I just that great an actor or did she just not care... Whatever doesn't change the fact she downgraded me from best friend to servant, only because she isn't stuck on earth... isn't stuck with me."

Marco spent a few minutes on recalling his past treatment, the treatment he had turned a blind eye to for Star's sake, but now he has no reason to ignore.

Marco opened his eyes very slowly, trying to act cool, but fail miserably. " Solis Obscuratus, I have come because you requested an audience with me," he said as he walked as confidentially as he could towards Solis and stated his business.

Luna could hardly contain her laughter. Solis just rolled his eyes pretending Marco didn't look like a complete fool.

"I don't like beating around the bush and surely you feel the same, so I'll get right to the point, I want you to become an undead knight, a champion of me and my dear sister, in return your binding will be undone, you'll gain unimaginable power and most importantly you'll be free from the binding."

Marcos eyes widen until it turns to normal again as he thinks about it, It did make sense as he thought, "if Stars death would break the curse then my death would also break the curse and since an undead wasn't technically alive it could work, but losing my humanity. "

"W-what will happen to me if I accept, do I become mindless and violent? how can I be sure you won't turn me into your bloodthirsty pawn?" Marcos voice lost it's earlier confidence, but he needed to be sure he could trust Solis and if he wasn't satisfied, he'll find another way to break the blood moon curse, no matter what.

Solis stood up from his chair, chest out as he said. "Marco Diaz, I promise in my name as the god of the solar eclipse, you won't become a mindless pawn blindly following orders, as a matter of fact, my dear sister won't even be able to read your thoughts, you will be granted freedom if you survive, this I vow."

Marco didn't completely trust Solis but he could trust in Solis pride, but he still hasn't got the consequence, no the consequences don't matter as long he has his free will, free to choose his own way of life. "I will take your word for it, as such, I Marco Ubaldo Diaz take an oath, that whatever the obstacles may be, I will push through and become the champion of the blood moon and the solar eclipse, the champion of Luna Sanguis and Solis Obscuratus."

"haha, I didn't know you could be that bold, so decisive, it's really attractive," Luna said earnestly.

Marco could not hide his reaction of getting redfaced, to Lunas delight, how could he resist the compliment, after all, a sincere compliment is what he wants, just getting acknowledgment for his accomplishments and hard work.

"S-so what now," Marco said to change the air.

"You will receive training from My sister and I, but I know you need some time to pull yourself together especially after you destroy the book," Solis said, even if Marco knew Solis was showing regards to him, he still got goosebumps.

"W-why would I destroy the book," Marco said.

Solis turned annoyed to Luna and said in a loud and why scarier voice than before "Why didn't you tell him about the fact, all the mental pain, the book has stored will return to him all at once if he doesn't burn the book little by little,"

"ups... I forgot," Luna said in an innocent voice which only angered Solis more.

Solis was about to say more when Marco intercepted "W-what a-about burning the book."

Solis sighed loudly. "To keep it brief when you are about to die all the content the book has, will return to you all the feelings will be felt in a few moments, but in your case when you turn undead. The book has over a months worth of grief and will most likely be mentally damaging to you, therefore you should burn the book little by little, to only intake a small dose of the content at a time, as such you will take two weeks to relax, to digest your emotion."

"I understand and thank you for helping me," Marco said bowing deeply to Solis and Luna.

"No need to thank us, my brother and I will also gain from helping you, think of it as collaboration," Solis nodding to Luna's words, before Marco could answer Luna placed a soft kiss on his cheek and hands him a letter, Marco blushes uncontrollably. "Marco I have placed a spell that will hide your cheek marks when you use magic."

"uh t-thank you, I will take my leave now," Marco almost spat out.

"Marco let us shake hands as a sign of our oath," Solis said stretching his right hand, Marco nodded, grabbed it and he then felt something like electricity going through his body from his hand, it was so intense he actually knelt, still holding his Solis hand, Marco looked up into Solis eyes.

"Marco I have given you my blessing, my sister will also personally give you her blessing, but that will be when you return in 2 weeks," Solis said letting go of his hand.

Marco embraced his pulsating hand, "I'll be going now then." Marco took his scissors and cut open a portal and jumped through.

He now stood in the hidden path again where he first meet Luna. Marco couldn't leave butterfly kingdom just yet, he needed to say goodbye to Lavabo and get his things, now that he isn't the royal squire he will have to move out of the royal squire bedroom which sits just fine with him. It would have been easier to warp directly into his room, but he couldn't the whole butterfly castle has been warded, the only place where one can warp in the castle is in the teleportation room and the hidden paths which are not in the range of the warding.

"The last thing I want is to be confronted with the staff, everybody properly knows I have insulted Star and broken my royal squire oath," Marco thought as he tightens his grip on his book and the letter he got from Luna.

* * *

Marco stood in front of the oneway transparent painting near the royal squire bedroom, he saw that there was none nearby and got out of the painting. He walked as quickly and quietly as he could toward his former room, he got into the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

Now he just needed to get his essentials. Besides his bed was a wooden chest which contained his squire armor, he didn't open the chest but shoved it aside, he wouldn't use the butterfly kingdoms belongings, not when he has broken the oath he took when becoming the royal squire, regardless of Star herself being responsible for breaking the most important part of the oath that being best friends until death do them apart.

Marco didn't know what the punishment was for breaking an oath, but if the game "flag" that's just like "the king of the hill" but involves demolishing your own family to win, there were even one who got decapitated in the game.

With that in mind, Marco quickly opened the trap door under the chest, under the trap door was his sword El Choppo and his savings, the reason he hid them was that people would constantly steal from him.

He grabbed his black carry strap only duffel bag, he put his book and the letter and was about to fill it with his savings, but he saw a package on his bed with a note on top, it was Lavabos handwriting.

Dear Marco, I don't know the details of the circumstances between the relationship of you and princess Star, but I do know what the consequences will be for insulting royalty, as such I have prepared some new clothes, I wish you the best of luck. Ps: That armor is yours, it's a gift from a mentor to a squire. Lavabo the knight of the wash.

Marco smiled bitterly, only for a moment. He shoved the package in his bag, as well as his savings. He got to his table, on the table was his belt and a crowbar. He equipped his belt and sword. Marco packed his crowbar, he then took a look around the room for anything useful, but the room was pretty empty, it was the result of being despited, whenever he came back from a mission some item would be broken. He thought of having an animal companion to guard, but the extra work that would create, it was simply impossible.

Marco took a few deep breaths, thinking about how his life is going to be turned around, his curse is gonna be broken as well as Stars, he understood that becoming an undead, have a chance of death or the like, but he feels like he will go insane if he is with Star and know he will become insane away from Star and that must not happen, either way, Star will be free from the curse, no matter what happens one of them will benefit.

As Marco was about to turn around and head out, the door was kicked open, heavy pants could only be heard, the seconds seemed so long. "Princess may I know how you knew I was here," Marco said, breaking the silence.

It Star took a few seconds before answering "I-I placed... a-an alarm spell on your door... your room is pretty empty, y-you going somewhere," Stars exhausted voice said.

The silence dominated the room again, Marco knew who was behind him, damn he wished he could use a portal right now. But he can't. "Princess, this room has been empty for quite a long time, my possessions seem to be an eyesore to any who passersby," Marco said.

"What do you mean-"

"It's nothing royalty should be worrying about," Marco interrupted her, " I'm sure you have more important matters to mind like-"

"Marco! Please, why are you like that, all formal and stuff, I know I owe you an apology. I'm sorry Marco, I spoke with Lavabo of why you exploded, what you have gone through and I'm sorry, I know you are useful, I know all of your commitment, you are more than deserving of being the royal squire, you are the ideal squire, so please don't leave," Star plead.

Even tho Marco couldn't see Star, he could hear her trying to hold back tears, still her pleads are not enough to penetrate or even waver Marco's heart, "it's always like this, Star set a goal and try to complete it, damn the consequences then she looks back and see all the mess she had made and try to redeem herself, but this time there is no redemption. She doesn't know what I've gone through, but maybe." Marco thought

"Princess, don't act like you know my hardship, you don't even know a quarter of what I've been through if you want to know I can show some of it but know that what you learn will only reveal how narrowminded and ignorant of a person you are. Do you still want to know." Marco said.

Marco turned around, Star took a step back, there was something wrong, yes his eye, his right eye was not right, maybe it was the lighting playing a trick, but it looked like his right eye loses its brownness, becoming more black, a blackness that's so deep it sees inside her soul.

"Do you want to know," Marco said again this time through gritted teeth. Throwing Star out of her shock, Star blinked rapidly for a moment, locked eyes with Marco again, his eye brown.

Star was a little relieved and answered, "I want to know, Marco."

Marco pulled out a book from his bag, "Princess, this is my... uh... diary, I will allow you to read it if you promise me two things, one when you have read a chapter, you rip the chapter out and burn it, two it is for your eyes only, if you can swear to honor these conditions, you may read it."

Star was bewildered, not by the fact he has a diary, he seems like the type to have one, but he would let her read it if she burns it. Stars confusion was only momentarily, she didn't have a choice if she wanted to make up with Marco.

" Only if..." Star wanted a promise from him, but couldn't bring herself to demand it from Marco, because did she even have the right to." I promise."

Marco lay the book on the table and paced to the door past Star. Marco was about to leave but Star grabbed his hoodie, "Please, don't leave... you don't have a reason to, the royal squire bedroom is now called your room and I'll treat you better from now on... so please don't leave." Star said in a weak, regretful voice.

"Too little too late," Marco said as he slapped Stars hand that was grabbing his hoody off.

With those words, Star didn't try to stop Marco, she fell to her knees, embracing Marcos book like a mother would embrace her child all the while silently crying. Star lifted her head only to see Marco gone from her view.

* * *

**I'm sorry it took way longer than I had planned, but hey, what can I do when I'm not unemployed anymore.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry it took so long and I'm sorry this chapter is a bit short. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

* * *

"Star, Star, dear are you there," Moons voice directed to Stars bedroom door.

Moon tried to open the door, but the door was locked, "Star unlock this door, so we can talk." Still no answer. Moon was getting a bit impatient, she loved her daughter very much, but even then she can't spend time getting nowhere when she has a kingdom to repair and not to mention the upcoming trial for Eclipsa, "Star unlock this door or I'll break it with my magic," Moon threatened.

A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Moon lifted her hand while blue magic was emitting from it, an ice shard was forming big as a barrel. Moon did a forward hand gesture and sent the ice shard toward the door.

"um... is this a bad time," Moon flicked her head towards the familiar voice, stopping her attack mid-air.

Moon glanced at a demon boy before she sighs exhausted and put up a sad smile. "good day Tom, no this isn't a bad time, in fact, you have the perfect timing... Star, the past week has been..." Moon struggles to find the words while putting the ice down on the ground. Existed there any word that could describe Stars behavior, that her little girl is broken, eating only a little of the food brought to her, crying coming from the room at random times, there is one but she can't get herself to say it.

"Depressed... I know... she won't answer my calls, when I text her she barely replies and whenever I wanna come over she denied... not only me, Ponyhead, Kelly, her other earth friends. She wants to be alone... but it's not what she needs." Tom said, looking at Stars door.

"Yes, I have come to the same conclusion... as much as it pains me, I will have to leave Star in your hands," Moon said, taking one last glance at the door before leaving.

Tom stood a few moments watching Moon, as he watched her leave, she was wiping her face. Watching that only strengthened his resolve, he silently swore to himself to stop what was or rather who was hurting Star, Tom couldn't get in contact with Marco and he wasn't near Stars side, which could only mean he was the cause of the problem.

"Marco I don't know the situation, but all I know is Star is suffering and you are the cause of it, you better pray that we do not cross paths." Tom thought before trying to open Stars door.

"Star it's me, Tom your boyfriend, please open the door." No answer, "I'm sorry to do this but you leave me no choice. Star, I'll go get-." Tom said before getting interrupted by the sound of a door unlocking.

Tom took a second before opening the door and walking into a room littered with used tissue paper, he quickly surveyed the pink room and saw a little hill of used tissue, there was a set of pajamas wearing legs poking out from the hill.

The silence dominated the air, Tom had come in with the resolve to help Star, but now that he stood there, he thought "how do I help her, what do I say."

Tom at a loss at what to do, simply said whatever came to mind when he looked around Stars room, "Um..how are you still covered in tissue when you unlocked the door." Tom asks nervously.

"Magic" Star said morosely.

That hit Tom, it was one thing through text but with Star's voice, it made it so much worse. "Starship, please, stop that... talk to me, you can tell me anything. What's troubling you, I can help you" Tom said with a hint of sadness.

Star noticing the change in Tom's voice from awkward nervous to sad, she rose and all the tissue paper on her fell off the bed. Star saw Tom expression which confirmed one thing, that Marcos diary stated. She felt bad and guilty, but she was determined to do this alone because Marco had to go through this alone, "nothing-" Star barely said before Tom interjected.

"Don't say nothing's wrong!"Star flinched a little at Tom's outburst, causing him to immediately regret and inwardly curse his emotions. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted, but there is something wrong and it's hurting you, it's hurting me and your parents, it's hurting all of your friends... because we all care about you," Tom said hurtfully while locking eyes with Star.

There was silence again. Tom looking into Star's tired eyes which raised some anger in him, "I bet it's Marcos damn fault," Tom voice full of anger.

"It isn't Marcos fault." Star silently said, breaking eye contact and looking down at her feet.

"Then who?" Tom asked a bit annoyed.

There was silence again, "Mine" Star finally said.

"How?" Tom asked skeptical.

"Because I'm a bad friend and now also a bad girlfriend and daughter, I-I'm a bad person aren't I," Star confessed, crying and hugging her legs.

"What no, Star you are not, Star look at me." Tom placed both hands on her cheeks and gently turned her head up so their eyes meet."You are not a bad person-" Tom reassured until he got interrupted.

"Have I not hurt the people I care about, you said it yourself... I'm a bad mewman being," Star said as she pushed Tom's hands of her, still looking into Tom's eyes with her teary eyes.

"You are not bad, sure you can be narrowminded and reckless once you want to do something and there's usually some collateral damage, but you always fix it afterward. You care about your friends, you help everyone you can and you make everything a whole lot brighter," Tom said giving Star a tight hug and Star in return gave an even tighter hug. "If you're a bad person, then none can claim to be good in all of the dimensions."

They spend a few minutes hugging."That was- quite- the speech, not like you," Star said in between her sobs, breaking their hug.

"Well I have been reciting it before coming here, so uh..." Tom confessed feeling awkward, but that vanished instantly when he saw Star chuckle and smile.

"Thank you, I really needed that," Star said, as she placed a kiss on Tom's cheek.

Tom sat beside Star, "so can you tell me why you have been in your room for the past week."

"I've been preparing the upcoming trial and my coming party and then I've been reading a very tough book this past week," Star said.

" So you been doing your projects and reading a book, that's why you have been shutting all of us out. C'mon, Starship, you can tell me the truth," Tom said with a hint of disappointment.

Star began pacing around the room, Tom sighed relieved, he knew what was about to happen.

"But it's the truth. I know before I could almost always hang out with you, but that was only possible because... I dumped all the work on him. I'm so stressed out I... cry myself to sleep, and it has only been a week and I'm not even doing half the work he did." Star said taking a deep breath and spoke again Tom could say something. "He did work on the Eclipsa trial, which entails learning about the law system, research and prepare lawsuits, interpret laws, regulations, and rulings," Star said in one breath. Star took one more deep breath, Tom didn't even try to say anything, he knew she needed it out of her system, "Then there's the party. Do you even understand how frustrating nobles can be? Not only them then there's the budget to regulate, the things to buy, were can they be stored, how much should I stock on. It's impossible."

"Okay... How do you know you don't do the work he could? It looks to me that you are pretty hardworking." Tom said after sensing Stars rant was done.

Star goes to her pillow and reaches her hand under it and pulls out a book, "this is Marcos diary, he gave it to me before he left-" Star said before Tom stopped her.

"So that book is why you have been crying and hurting," Tom interjected.

"yeah...I guess you can that," Star said silently.

"Okay, I hope you can forgive me, but this is for the best," Tom said seriously.

"What do you-" Star didn't get to say anymore.

Tom snatched the book from her hands. Star didn't even have the time to say anything, the book in Tom's hand caught flames and burned. Star needed a moment to completely realize what Tom just did.

"What the corn Tom! Do you have any idea of what you just did-" Star shouted before Tom interrupted.

"I helped you, that's what I did! That diary was nothing but suffering," Tom shouted back.

"Helped!? You burned the only way I ever could've become best friend with Marco again," Star shouted. "Now I...I don't know if I can look him in the eyes," Star whispered.

"Starship it's for the best, I mean look at your room," Tom tried to convince Star.

"Those tissues are Glossricks doing, I haven't been playing with him and he retaliated with throwing tissues," Star explained.

" But even if those were mine, you did nothing but destroy it all, do you know what that diary meant. It meant I could be his friend again, now I can't... you have taken my best friend from me. I-I want you out." Star said on the verge of crying.

"All I did was for you," Tom explained.

" All you did was taking my chance to get Marco back," Star retorted.

"Why do you think he ever will be your friend again? For all we know he did it as payback." Tom asked.

"Because Marco isn't a cruel person if he couldn't ever forgive me he wouldn't have given me hope to get his forgiveness," Star answered.

"Do you still want me out?" Tom asked a bit nervously.

"yes, I want you out," Star said pointing to the door.

After Tom left, Star hugged her legs and began crying. Glossrick successfully squished himself in between her legs and stomach.

"what is it Gloss," Star said tired and annoyed.

"Globgooooore, " was all Glossrick said.

"Corn you're annoying," Star shouted.

Glossrick retorted by summoning tissues on Star.

* * *

Marco came strolling down the road through the forest toward Glenn's settlement, looking at the ever dark the sky. The only way one could tell it was noon was the Solar eclipse. Marco was a tiny bit afraid, yesterday and the day before around this time, Star had burned a chapter. The pain he felt was usually bearable but the fact he never knew when it would come, but just knew it would come made it much worse.

Marco would normally have been waiting until the pain came, however, he would be in the presence of Glenn, Glenn Harker was the person in Luna's letter. She had recommended him in case Marco wanted to train.

Glenn was a devoted worshipper for the solar eclipse. He was a talented martial in his former country. Marco had wondered how he came to live in a gods dimension, apparently, he and a few dozen survivors of his country had been saved by Solis.

Marco didn't know Solis or Luna, but from what he had heard from the village and how they ruled, they value personal freedom above all else. Marco thought that there actually are too few rules to run a whole dimension, but all the different settlements can live in peace side by side, no discrimination.

Marco came to the gates of the town and saw a big, green scaly, humanoid creature, it was Glenn. He was in training gear and waved at Marco.

"what's up, chief," Marco said shaken hands with Glenn.

"Waiting for you, let's go," Glenn said slapping Marcos back.

They went to a building Marco would call a dojo, but Glenn just called it a sparing room.

Marco and Glenn were going to have a couple of sparring matches. First unarmed, then with practice weaponry. Marco didn't have a weapon preference, he had El Chopoo, but he had to give that back to seal something.

The others in the dojo were standing and locking arms with each other in a circle making a very colorful circle. Marco and Glenn's matches were pretty high level, at least to the spectators.

Marco nodded toward Glenn and he did back, now their match had begun.

Glenn moved first, he came with a big right hook. Marco dodged to the left, but was countered by a spinning kick, Marco had no choice but to block the kick. The kick sends Marco into the spectators, but they are more like a wall and bounced.

Marco used the bounce to get in close and deliver an uppercut, that barely gets dodged, Marco then spins giving an elbow but gets caught and Marco received a kick on the back.

"C'mon Marco, you can do better than that," Glenn taunted.

"Careful what you wish for," Marco answeared back.

This time Marco go in, but don't attack, Glenn throw punches, but Marco dodges and he keeps on dodging and when Glenn stop attacking, Marco attacks.

They go back and forth, punches and kicks that either gets blocked or dodged.

"Getting tired are we, old man?" Marco taunted after seeing Glenn being a little sluggish. Marco knew Glenn was annoyed he didn't even answer back.

Glenn the bigger and stronger man began feeling the fatigue a bit. Marco took advantage of it and did punch and kick combination even faster than before.

Marco got in an opening and was about to give a knee in Glenn's stomach when he went for it, he saw Glenn smile and at that moment he knew he messed up. True, Glenn tanked the knee and grabbed Marco and threw him in the ground, ripping his sleeves clean off.

"You are still to easy to fool, haha-!", Glenn said until he saw Marco squirming on the ground and screaming in pain, normally he would be up and ready to keep going. But it looked like he had trouble breathing, he clenched where his heart would be.

The spectators began to panic, they were confused at what was happening.

There were spawning black lines from Marcos right-hand shooting all the way to his shoulder, making a braiding pattern along his arm. Marco's hand was completely turned black, but there was a vicious and wicked grin with sharp teeth on the back of the hand.

"Get into contact with Solis Obscuratus or Luna Sanguis," Glenn shouted.

* * *

**I got a question, what do you think of the pace? Is it to slow? Anyway thanks for reading my story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know it has been a long long time, and this chapter had been done a long time ago, but the theme was a little too personal for me. Now that I feel better about my inferiority complex I've decided to publish it, and I hope that you can enjoy it.**

**PS. To anyone that is going through it or was. You are not alone.**

* * *

Marco stood naked in complete darkness, but somehow able to see his reflection clearly in a giant cracked mirror. Marco confused looked around, a voice broke through the empty darkness, frightening Marco. " Poor little Marco, so weak you are."

Marco instantly turned to the mirror, his reflection or rather the reflection's mouth moved to what he heard, but it was not where the voice was coming from, it came from nowhere yet it was everywhere.

"You are useless, worthless, the only thing you had going for you was being Stars-" Said the somehow familiar creepy voice until Marco interrupted.

He walked towards the mirror, "No! shut up, you are-" Marco retorted.

" Wrong!" The creepy voice finished Marco's sentence, shutting him up and then continued. "Star only let you stay out of pity, anyone can do what you did. You are no one, Star is who defines you, you're know as the princess' dog in the castle, a disgusting leech is what you are."

Marco wanted to rebuke the familiar voice, but he couldn't, it wasn't because he couldn't think of what to say rather his words were stuck in his throat. Marco couldn't argue with the fact that Star is who defines him, since coming to Mewni all he did was for, about Star, but he wanted to say that he did accomplish things, that he is useful, he completed his squire training, he has a red belt and, and... and. But that thought gradually turned into despair, because what else did he accomplish, he earned his dimensional scissors from Hekkapoo, that was something no one could take from him. "It doesn't matter and you know it, Star has decided too that you are useless, burning the rest of the book. You can try to comfort yourself with, I did great at school, I kissed Jackie, but you know the truth. You are-" The creepy voice said as Marco realized where the voice was coming from. It came from his head. The voice didn't stop, it intensified and multiplied.

Marco fell to his knees holding his head trying to shut the many voices out but couldn't, in his head, his surroundings all he could hear was different people from Mewni and earth insulting and belittling him. Marco knew better than to believe idiots during his lifetime, but hearing the same thing again and again, over and over one will eventually end up believing them. And that he did.

A burning sensation began in Marco's right hand, but he didn't feel it or rather he didn't care about it, all he could focus on was the voices. The most hurting voices were ironically from his friends. He didn't know why it did hurt so much, he knew they were joking and playing around most of the time. Maybe he's petty or did he start to believe that was what they thought of him, perhaps both.

"I'm just a loser... always has been and always will be," Marco self loathed, which the creepy voice agreed, topping all the other voices.

"You are right. You only deserve a boring, repeating life. Your only comfort some stupid grade. Crawl back to Earth, be harassed by Brittany and Jeremy or be Janna's plaything, presumably both." Marco could hear the glee in its voice.

The burning sensation intensified a lot on his right hand and slowly grew up his arm, he looked at his burning arm, but it looked normal. Marco's breath got more frequent because of the pain. He hesitantly lifted his head toward the mirror. Marco was shocked and terrified to see the reflection grow blackness from its left hand, that looked a bit like Eclipsas corruption but darker and it didn't gradually turn purple, it had several loosely braided pattern that spiraled along the arm. A smile appeared on the corrupted backhand, a smile he recognized immediately.

Marco could feel his tears on the verge of breaking out, but it never did. He had no problem crying tears of pain, sadness or happiness, but tears of breaking, he couldn't. It was a weird thing, he never knew why, but whenever he found himself at the bottom, Whenever he wanted to give in, he never did, not to other humans, not to mewmans, not to monsters, not to anyone and definitely not to Monster Arm. All he could do was to grit his teeth and pick himself back up and that he did.

Marco's terror was diminishing, replaced by something. Marco first thought it was anger, but as he looked at the mirror, he wasn't angry. He only felt pity, not mocking pity but sincere pity. "I know! I'm the safe kid that only seeks fulfillment, I want to be special, I want to be someone, but I'm not. I don't have a magic wand, I don't have natural fire abilities, I'm not royalty, I don't have a black belt, I-" Marco didn't stop there, he kept on going with things he didn't have or wasn't. Monster Arm tried to stop his rant, but the attempts were in vain. Marco kept going, fortunately, he stopped his rant after an hour, at that point Monster arm and the reflection looked like they wanted to die. When Marco stopped, Monster Arms' smile came back to life, however, that died instantly when Marco opened his mouth. "However, I-."

"shut up! Shut the fuck up! I've had enough!" Monster Arm outbursted, the reflection composed itself and Monster Arm continued, "Sounds like you know how sorry of an existence you have, I'll do you a favor and release you from your suffering." Monster Arm said triumphantly as if it had already won.

The reflection ran out of the giant mirror, straight toward Marco. Marcos instinctively grabbed a big right hook and a left follow up. Marco and the reflection with both hands locked pushed against each other. Marco pushed harder, he pushed the reflection towards the mirror from where it came from but they soon found themselves in a stalemate. The burning sensation came to his hand again, but this time, there were visible manifestations, the corruption spread up Marco's arm, exactly like the reflections. Marco tried to get away, but the reflection grip only got tighter.

"Trying to run, you coward but it's useless," Monster Arm said, the reflection used this opportunity to pull and smash Marcos back into the giant mirror. Marco gasped, not because of the impact, but because the burning sensation was now all over his back, it quickly faded only to increase the spreading and pain of the corruption on Marco's right arm.

* * *

"What will you do," Luna said to Solis, looking over half-naked Marco who was greatly sweating and trembling on a table.

"Nothing, sure this is quite a dangerous state for him, but I did inform him not to burn the book too quickly, he chose this, besides if he is the one to change everything, this should only be trivial at most," Solis answered, sitting in his chair reading a book.

"Don't you think it would be a waste, to leave him to his fate," Luna tried to convince her brother.

"Perhaps, but this is quite interesting. See that?" Solis put the book down. He goes over to Marco and rolls him halfway so that Luna and himself can see his back properly. The black markings all over his back.

"And? The corruption is spreading like a wildfire, what's the interesting part?" As soon as Luna said so, the black markings began retracting, the sound and smell of flesh burning dominated the room, Luna looked at Solis for an explanation.

"This is not just a simple corruption, it's conscious. That level of corruption, it has been living inside him for a long time. I'm astonished, that he had the ability to keep it in check. Well, until now. "

"I can accept that, but why is his arm burning now?" Luna said looking disgusted and squishing her nose.

"That's just how dense the corruption is at the moment" Solis answered nonchalantly, as he goes and sat in his chair again, looking at Marco.

"Are you not going to read your boring book again?" Luna said crossing her arms and glaring at him.

Solis had a look that said not this again."This pains me as much as it pains you."

"For some odd reason, I doubt that," Luna still glaring at him.

Solis sighed heavily. "You know why we have to do this, we can only fight fire with fire when water is ineffective."

Luna's glare changing to a pain expression" Sorry. It's just, he's the 10.074.679 mortal that has been dragged into our conflict and that's only when I started counting a century ago. "

Solis got up from his chair and embraced his sister, " I understand that this is eating you from the inside and I will say this as I have done many times before. You can withdraw from this long, grim war."

Luna hugged him after hearing his words but then puts an arms distance between the two, locking gazes with him. " I can't let you shoulder more than you already do. We are going through this together."

Solis listening to the words he had heard many times before, but even still it moves his heart none the less. He took her into his embrace feeling a lot of guilt that never will show on his face because he is leaving his dear sister in the future.

* * *

Gritted teeth and pained groans can be heard in this vast darkness. Marco still up against the cracked mirror, his flesh burning gone all the way to his chest and still spreading over his torso. Marco's hands still locked with the reflection, kneed the reflection in the gut and right after headbutted it.

The reflection staggered and at that moment he threw it. Before the reflection could get up Marco kicked it in the side, the kick strong enough to send it sliding a few feet. Monster Arm could see from the reflections backhand that the naked Marco was not in pursuit but standing in front of the now reflectionless mirror. Marco pulled his arm back ready to deliver a powerful punch.

Monster Arm was dumbfounded, it acknowledged that Marco was not an idiot. He should definitely understand from the way he reacted to the mirror, that was the main corruption not only that it was also where Marco had kept all his negative emotion. And there were a lot. Monster Arm's only source of corruption was from when Marco recently used the All-seeing Eye and the leftover corruption from when it was turned temporary torpid. It was not a lot, but the pent up negative emotion like frustration, sadness, and betrayal, turned it all into a highly potent and concentrated corruption.

Monster Arm against its better judgment asked, " Why are you doing this, you could have literally beat me and all your pent up feelings out of existence."

"I could, but I've decided to accept and welcome it all. It may sound stupid, but you are the only one who knows what I've been through, even though you didn't have a choice you have been with me through thick and thin." Marco answered taking a look at the reflection and Monster Arm that are now standing up and staring.

" You two exist because of me and so I'm going to take responsibility."

Monster Arm had actually grown fond of Marco a long time ago, but it always though that Marco wanted it dead because of that, it didn't think twice when given the opportunity, no it was good it took the opportunity, now it can have what it envied Marco of, a friend. But Monster Arm could be even greater than that, it knew how fun, the insulting between friends could be, but also what they could turn into. Marco could become more than just a host, perhaps he could become... a friend. " you are an idiot, really, you are to soft. You are going to die."

Marco turned his attention to the cracked mirror "Bet"

"Alright, if you die. I'm taking your body, but if you miraculously survive, we will become friends."

"sounds unfair, but alright" And then Marco punch with his full might against the mirror.

As soon as he did, a giant explosion blew them all away.

* * *

"Solis come with haste!" Luna cried out.

"What is it" Solis came running into the living room and was behind Luna in an instant.

He didn't even need to hear the answer, Marco's body was almost completely corrupted only a small circle around his heart was uncorrupted but it is only a matter of time.

Solis wore his emotionless expression, maybe he did overestimate the human. He sighed and lifted his hand, which was now emitting dark magic. As he was reaching for Marco's head, he noticed the uncorrupted circle was now larger. He could have sworn in his own name that the circle was smaller.

His emotionless expression crumpled after he discovered the corruption retracting from his legs, arms, and torso. Right now Solis and Luna stood with shocked faces.

Marco woke, groaned and sat slowly up. Luna jumped back and looked at him like he was a zombie.

"Is that Marco or the conscious corruption" Luna whispered.

"I think both"

Luna looked at him like he was mad. Solis grew annoyed at the accusation of being deranged and explained. " The only way out of that stage of corruption that I can imagine is if the conscious corruption deliberately chooses to withdraw, but in my long existence that had never happened before or at least recorded."

Solis after explaining his theory observed Marco. The corruption is not withdrawing back to were it first came from, but it is being sucked into Marcos back.

Marco turns around and gives Solis and Luna a genuine smile, a smile he had not been able to do in a long time.

"You sure about that, look at him" Luna whispers to Solis after she returns the smile back at him, Solis, however, stare him dead in the eye before giving up to find something different in them.

"They look exactly like before, maybe I was too optimistic," he thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is gonna be a bit long, but I will try my best to throw in a little humor.**

* * *

"Solis I have come to deliver my report about Marco," Glenn said kneeling in front of the solar eclipse god, who was busy writing something on his desk.

Solis took a glance at Glenn and sighed. " How many times have I told you that there is no need to prostrate yourself? Even I have lost count."

Glenn shook his head, " You saved my kin from extinction, not only that you gave us a place to call home, even after all that you didn't even ask for anything in return. The title God doesn't even do you the justice... "

"So stubborn... anyway take a seat." Glenn sat at the chair opposite of Solis "what can you report regarding Marco," Solis said.

" I can only speak of the 8 days that I have had spent with him. I'll start with his abilities. His combat senses are second to none, he thinks of the best course of action and carries it out, he's also quite flexible when overcoming obstacles. Ironically he's more lethal when fighting unarmed than when he is armed. He has incredible strength when compared to his size and unsurprisingly quite agile, but what really impresses me is his endurance both physically and mentally. But his behavior underwent a drastic change after his incident..." Glenn reported.

Now that picked Solis interest.

Glenn continued with his report. " Before he was unnaturally kind and gentle, so much so he never could go all out during his sparing, when confronted he plays dumb, but when I persistently asked in private he says he would rather lose than accidentally injure someone. And so I put that conviction to a test and had some of my disciples treat him horrible and when they sparred he still held back and it ended in draws or his losses like all the others. I began to think he didn't know how to win, especially when he let himself get beat up. But when we went hunting a griffen. He changed, I almost thought he was a different person. He proceded like he was a veteran hunter and his usual fighting style which involves tiring an opponent was nowhere to be seen. It was straight forward. He charged straight in and with his spear he thrust it through the griffens neck and then twisting the spear, pinning it to the ground and then killing it with a dagger, piercing its head."

Solis closed his eyes taking in the information he was getting. Marco's combat prowess did not concern him, it was his mentality and his personality. Marco had a dead horse as his aureole sign and that could shed some light, but they are more like guidelines and not completely reliable. If his character wasn't right the training will be fruitless no matter how strong he got.

"I asked him how he became so good at hunting, he just said by earning my scissors whatever that means. If I were to guess-"

"Just tell me what about his character traits that changed," Solis said a tad bit impatient.

"As you wish. He's still kind, but its no longer... unnatural? It is hard to explain. Remember my experiment, my disciples who were involved. They sparred with him and let us just say, he didn't show them any mercy. To everyone else he still is as the first day I meet him. I guess that's all." Glenn finished his long report.

"Thank you, Glenn, but I also want your opinion on him." Solis looked at Glenn's face and he could see that Glenn had a bit of trouble to answer. "It can be vague, you have after all only known him for 8 days."

Glenn looked relived and opened his mouth. " I find him strange, I can't understand him. But I'm certain that he will be a great soldier, however, I think he has lost a couple of his marbles. I have seen him talking to himself several times, not like give remarks to something to oneself or loud thinking, but having full-on conversations with himself. My final estimation of him will have to be, he has great potential but also very risky as a candidate. That is my opinion. "

"I see, thank you. You may leave now," Glenn stood up and bowed quickly before he left.

"Great potential, but risky, just like Toffee... that idiot", Solis sadly thought.

* * *

Marco sat in the corner of the dojo. "That's so stupid, just like Beard Dear, I get its a dear with a beard, but that's not a name."

"Marco everybody is looking at you", Monster Arm said in Marco's head.

Marco looked around and saw everybody staring at him, Marco grew redfaced and awkwardly smiled, "Sorry, just thinking out loud again, haha."

"Nobody is buying that, you know. Look at them."

"I don't need you to point out the obvious" Marco thought.

"Tell me when you are done with your period, Turddina" Monster Arm sneered.

"And you better tell me a proper name that I can call you." Marco thought annoyed.

"I'm off now, great training today," Marco shouted as he waved to everyone, they waved back and shouted their goodbye.

"Now I have to say a proper goodbye to my family and Lavabo before I start my transformation." Marco thought happily.

Marco went to the exit and equipped his shoes and took his duffel bag. Marco opened a portal and went into it. He now stood in front of his house.

Marco slowly went to the front door of his former residence. He now stood in front of the door and grabbed the handle, but he couldn't turn it. His palms are sweaty, knees weak and arms are heavy. He thought he just could hug them and say goodbye, but right now it seems so hard. What if-.

"This will not be the last time you see them, I won't let you die" Monster Arm annoyedly reassured Marco.

"Thanks," Marco thought.

"Because if you die I die, I have made your heart my home, you know," Monster Arm said.

"Yeah... that's what usually happens to parasites when their hosts die," Marco though.

Marco stood a few seconds and waited for a response, but nothing came from Monster Arm. Marco smiled a little, his nervousness easing up and took a deep breath. He opened the door and saw his mother and father sitting on the couch cuddling.

"Hi mom, hi dad," Marco said with a smile.

"Hi Marco" Mr and Mrs Diaz said in unision.

"Marco I have made your favorite for dinner after all this is the last day of your holiday. Sweety, go upstairs and take a shower, food will be ready in 30 min," Mrs. Diaz said.

"And I have made pizza nuggets, lots and lots of pizza nuggets," Mr Diaz said.

"Alright, mom and dad"

After Marco was done with his shower, he put on his red hoodie and black jeans and went downstairs. He sniffed the air and could detect the lovely fragrance of hot nachos and pizza nuggets, he then went into the living room.

Mr and Mrs Diaz were already at the dinner table and patiently waiting for Marco until they spot him, but it was weirdly dark.

"Come, hurry Marco, we are all hungry, isn't that right honey," Mr Diaz said, winking at his wife.

Mrs Diaz ignored her husband's playful remark "Marco tell us, what will you be doing after your vacation is over?"

Marco sat at the dinner table. He loved eating with his family, especially when he gets one of his father's and mother's specialties for dinner. But there was way too much food for just 3 people, "they have really gone all out," Marco thought.

Marco opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by loud voices that all said in unison " SURPRISE"

Glitter cannons were shot around and Ferguson, Alfonzo, Janna, and Sensei all jumped out from their hiding spots.

Marco looks around surprised. Everybody smiled at the confused Marco.

"you didn't think, you could leave without saying goodbye, did you? said Janna.

"What n-no, o-of course not, wouldn't dream of it," Marco said awkwardly.

"Woah, you are feeling a lot of emotions right now, not that I mind," Monster Arm said.

"She is one of my friends, who kinda makes my life worse than what it should be." Marco thought.

Soon after everybody joined the dinner table. They talked about what they were going to do in the future. Ferguson and Alfonzo were going to keep being in Echo Creek. Jackie was going on an international internship in France. Janna was just being mysterious and everyone just accepted it. Sensei has gotten a job besides being a karate instructor and perhaps he will move out from his mother's house.

It was Marco's turn to explain what he would be doing and what his goal for the future is. He couldn't tell them about how he may never see them again, he told them while leaving the spiciest of details out. Marco just had that awkward smile, he has when he is put in the spotlight all of a sudden. "Well... um, I'll just be training to become an elite knight... um, apparently its something which takes a long time and it's not all that interesting."

The topic changed to the coming baby, Mr and Mrs Diaz have chosen the name Marco jr. Since he has a mole just like Marco.

Everybody had eaten and it was now time for goodbyes.

Sensei was the first one to say goodbye, he was already emotional, tho less than the first time Marco left. "I'm gonna miss you," Sensei said in his coarse voice.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too man," Marco said, trying to dodge the waterworks from sensei.

Ferguson and Alfonzo stepped up next, " we are also gonna miss you," Ferguson said.

"Yeah come back soon, we'll have a bunch more prank calls to make," Alfonzo said.

"haha, yeah... oh remember this" Marco said as he pulled out the lucky dice, but it had bite marks on it, and a corner was missing. "haha... its a bit beat up, I'm sorry, I didn't take better care of it. It almost got eaten, destroyed, stolen and-."

"Dude, don't worry." Alfonzo interrupted.

"Yeah, you still value it since you still have it and that's what counts. Keep it," Ferguson added, while Alfonzo nodded in agreement.

"I love you guys," Marco said getting a bit emotional.

Sensei cried even more, at the scene.

"That's so gay, you at least have to think no homo if you're not gonna say it," Monster Arm said.

"Quiet!" Marco yelled.

"w-what?" Sensei said confused. Not only him, everybody had a confused face, except Janna she had a smile that said: way to go Diaz.

"Uhm. Because if none of you stop being so emotional, I'm gonna actually cry," Marco said hoping they would buy it.

"Ooooh, Marco," Mrs Diaz said, embracing her son, Mr Diaz soon followed. It was a long, long hug. Marco knew the risk he would take and felt immensely guilty, for not being able to tell them.

That was the end of the goodbyes, almost the end. Marco had one more person to say goodbye to. He hoped it will be a lot less emotional or as Monster Arm would put it less gay.

* * *

Star sat at a desk with paper stacked so high it was taller than her.

Star bumped her head into the desk out of frustration.

"Princess Star that is no way to act as the princess of the Butterfly Kingdom. " Manfred said to Star.

"But it has been like 2 weeks straight of so many papers that need to be approved and disapproved. " Star said defeated, her head still in contact with the desk. Star shouted annoyed " Why do I even need to do this, they are also so stupid now. Like, of course, you aren't getting a loan to start a brothel or making a private lake!" Star holding up 2 papers before letting her arms slam into the desk.

Manfred ignored the shouting and asked, " this is training for when you become the queen of the Butterfly Kingdom and what do you mean by so many papers, there are in fact fewer than normal and they have always been absurd princess Star."

"No, when Marco... was my squire, there were usually about 15 now there's like 10 times that."

"I'm positive nothing has changed other than the fact, you are doing them at 10 o'clock rather than 6 o'clock," Manfred stated.

"No, I have always done them at 10 o'clock, almost right after breakfast," Star stated firmly, "and you better watch that passive-aggressive tone, Manfred!" Star threatened.

Manfred bowed instantly "I'm very sorry, I didn't intend to come across as such, please forgive me" Manfred didn't sound afraid, he sounded satisfied like: this is how a royal act.

Star didn't like how he sounded. But she knew it was an overreaction on her part. "I'm sorry Manfred, I shouldn't take my stress out on you," Star said apologetically.

"Oh no, Princess Star you are not in the wrong, it was all me," Manfred stated.

"If you say so, but what do you mean I did it at 6 o'clock," Star said not convinced.

"Well, the former royal squire asked for all of the minor requests to be ready at 6 o'clock every day and as such he receives them at your desired time..." Manfred tilted his head in thought and mumbled. " Begins at 10 o'clock... but received them at 6 o'clock... normally had about 15 requests." Manfreds face suddenly turned sour, "That leech used the authority of a princess without the permission of the queen, king or the princess herself. How dare he, such insolence, I-I I will report this immediately."

"Wait, you have the wrong idea!" Star shouted after Manfred, but he was to riled up to hear her. He ran out of the room, Star still shouting " Manfred come back here, Manfreeeeeed!"

Star tried to get up from her chair, but she was chained to the chair from her arms. It was so Star couldn't run from her training. But she needed to stop Manfred, at all cost. She tried to grab her wand, but it was just out off her reach.

"screw it!" Star shouted and turned to her butterfly form. She used one of her 4 free arms to shot glowworm bombs. It exploded and destroyed the desk, chair and all of the papers. Star reverted back and admired her work, she essentially just blew up all her homework and that felt great. However her bliss ended quickly after she remembered that she needed to stop Manfred, but first, she needed her wand and it was of course in all of the rubles. After finding her wand, she ran after him, but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Okay Star, time to use your brain," Star said loudly to no one in particular.

"Manfred wanted to report this, so it has to be my mom or dad", Star thought.

Star decided to head to her mother's office. When she reached the stairs, she heard footsteps leading downstairs. And she went after the sounds.

Star ran downstairs and saw a male humanoid figure on his way down to the foot of the stairs, she pointed her wand behind her and shot a magic beam to fly over him and landed perfectly in front of him.

"Stop Manfred, Marco didn't do any-" Star stopped mid-sentence. She was in front of Marco.

Star was frozen and so was the boy. Star's mind was racing, but that came to a halt when the boy shouted: "Zip it!"

"B-but I didn't say anything," Star said quietly and confused.

Marco began to stutter "Y-yeah, b-b-but... uuh." Marco took a deep breath. "You were about to, weren't you?" Star nodded as a response, her hands behind her back holding her wand. "Don't, there's nothing to say, save your breath, princess Star,"

"No, there's a lot to be said," Star corrected. "I need to say-"

"Star your wrong, I gave you a chance and you threw that out. You needed to read one book and apologize and we could have started over, but I guess our friendship was only half a book worth.

Star began to cry. "T-that's not true, I gave up my wand for our friendship," She desperately retorted.

"And I, my home, my life, my happiness, but not for our friendship but for you and soon I'll also give up my humanity, however, after that there's no more and I'm finally gonna be completely free," Marco said.

Star rubbed her eyes"W-what do you mea-" Star didn't finish as soon as she opened her eyes, he was gone. Star looked around and saw his red hoodie turn a corner. Star ran past the corner and there was no one, only paintings.

Star broke down, she began to cry loudly into her hands.

* * *

**I wish everyone a Happy New Year.**


	7. Chapter 7

**It has been a while, how are you all holding up with the quarantine? I know it has been a while, but I have fallen in love with Overlord and Youjo Senki. I've read the 15 light novels of overlord and I am currently in the 2 volume of Youjo Senki. What have all of you been doing? Not waiting for an update I hope. If you did then rejoice for this chapter is an XXL chapter.**

* * *

"I can't believe you just did that" Marco angrily thought.

"You were the one who shouted, Zip-it! at poor, little Star" Monster Arm pointed out.

"Why the hell are you like this."

"How about the fact that you won't be my friend."

"I don't mind being your friend, but what you had in mind wasn't a friend but a slave."

"What you mean? Aren't friends supposed to do all that the other friend needs? Like Star and you, you two always had to help the other like cleaning each other messes up, well you mostly had to clean her's up, but you get my point."

"You still don't understand what a friend is and until you do, you will always just be a parasite."

" Just a parasite?! Apologize!" Marco ignored him. "Don't ignore me. Apologize!" Marco put his hand in his hoodie pocket, not saying anything. "Fine, don't but now we are even"

Marco pulled his scissors out and cut a portal into Solis' and Luna's dimension. He jumped through and landed in his new room, it was well furnished with elegant patterns all over. Marco went into the middle of the room and pulled two planks up he had loosened, under them were his duffel bag. Marco had not experienced any item vanishing or destroyed when he was absent, but he couldn't feel like his items would be safe in his room.

Marco pulled his bag out of the hole in the floor and placed the two planks back into their place.

"Are you going out adventuring? You don't have any weapons and Solis is still modifying your armor"

Marco pulled the content out, a crowbar, money, and clothes.

" Cmon, It has been 2 whole minutes, I had even forgiven you. You can't still be mad, can you?"

He placed the clothes and all of his money except 650 bucks in the hole and put the crowbar in the bag.

"I guess you can, you petty bastard."

Marco put the duffel bag on and flipped up his interdimensional phone and called someone. It only took a few seconds and the call was answered.

"Hello" came a girly voice Marco was familiar with.

"H-hi, Kelly, I was just wondering i-if you would go out and raid this... cool dungeon," Marco said as normal as possible.

There was a moment of giggles from the other end, he had failed to hide his embarrassment. "What? I thought after you big speech about how the last adventure was the last before you went off to this long and hard journey to free your body and soul." Kelly said in a mocking voice that gradually turned overly dramatic.

"haha, yeah... I know I should not have tried to sound cool and ominous," Marco guiltily confessed. For some reason unbeknown to himself, he always tries to come off as a badass. That's a lie, he knows why he just doesn't know why he has to do it, maybe its an illness whatever it is, it does always bite him in the ass sooner or later.

"You don't have to pretend to be awesome, I already know how awesome you are, Marco," Kelly said.

"Thanks, that means a lot... so about the dungeon, you coming?" Marco asked, getting over his embarrassment.

"Yeah totally!" Came a loud reply.

"...great," Marco said a bit taken back by the unusually energetic reply.

"I... could use some distraction," Kelly said a bit embarrassed after the energetic reply.

"um, is it Tad again? I mean, uh... I uh, I'm sorry," Marco said as he faced palmed himself.

"I can't believe what I just said. She clearly sounded sad right now." Marco shouted in his mind, too the displeasure of Monster Arm.

The facepalm was loud, so loud that Kelly could hear it, she laughed at Marco for being silly. Marco was relieved when he heard laughter from the other side. " Alright let's meet in the bounce lounge."

"See you," Kelly said.

"Yeah, see you," Marco answered.

"You know. It's not nice to treat Kelly as a rebound," Monster Arm said. Marco growled in disagreement. He could ignore a lot but that was a little too far.

Kelly isn't a rebound or a plan b, she is the person he has had the most fun with lately. Marco could say she was his best friend to the Truth Or Punishment Box and properly not worry about a thing, not that he is going to try that.

Marco opened a portal and went through it. He landed in the middle of the dance floor. Marco found an empty couch and sat there while he waited on Kelly. The bounce lounge had certainly seen better days, there weren't many people like the last time he was here and the floor is littered with trash, not overly but enough that you notice it.

Marco was looking around and trying not to stand out too much, but that only did the opposite.

"Hey Marco," greeted Kelly

"Hey..." Marco greeted back.

Marco didn't know if they should have a drink first or just go to the dungeon, while Marco pondered this, Kelly took the initiative and asked a question. "So... when are you and Star going to make up?"

Marco breathed some soda at the sudden question and after his coughing fit, he answered "Well... as it stands now it will most likely not happen. I still have some confusion that can't be solved with my current circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Kelly asked.

"That's not important, let's go" Marco dismissed her question. He felt bad, he wanted to know why she needed a distraction.

Not waiting on a response, Marco opened a portal and took Kelly's hand, jumping through the portal.

* * *

"Woah, how did you find this old dungeon," Kelly asked intrigued by the muggy giant iron door and the engravings on it.

Marco shrugged "A friend told me about it."

Marco and Kelly approached the door, "How do we open the door" Kelly asked.

Marco gestured he got this and got his crowbar. He went to the door, but as soon as he touched it, it opened automatically. Marco shook his head in disappointment, he enjoyed prying things open.

"Shall we?" Kelly asked politely, chuckling at his face.

"Well, of course, after you" Marco answered just as politely, gesturing her to proceed onwards.

The passage was lit by a few torches hanging on the walls leaving spaces in the darkness. They were relaxed but they were now in a dungeon and as such, they needed to be a bit on guard. Marco picked a torch near him.

"Hey, do you have a spare one-handed weapon?" Marco asked.

"Do I have a spare weapon?" Kelly reiterated acting overly offended while handing him a short sword.

"Stupid question, you're like a walking arsenal." Marco chuckled.

"Pretty much" Kelly confirmed, arming herself with her family ancestral sword.

Marco and Kelly walked-in silence down a deep stairway, they focused on possible traps. After a few minutes of nothing, but skeletons of all kinds of different humanoid creatures. After reaching the foot of the stairs Kelly broke the silence. "Know the story of this place?" Kelly asked.

"I only know that it was used as a test, a place one could face one's demons, you know, find your true self or something," Marco answered not really caring of the place until he thought about it for a moment. He went on this adventure on impulse, but now that he thought maybe it could help him.

"let's go," Marco said picking up the pace with Kelly right behind him.

They soon reached an iron door with engravings of runelike letters.

"ready?" Marco asked in a whisper.

Kelly nodded and took a fighting stance. Marco used his backhand holding the torch to push the heavy door open. He opened it very slowly, the room was pitch black.

Marco took a step in and illuminated a few feet into the room. He could barely see a alter holding a small engraved wooden box. Marco looked around one more time to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous.

Kelly placed a hand on Marcos back and pushed him in as she went inside. "We don't have all-day, scaredy-cat," Kelly teased.

"I'm not scared, I'm just cautious." Marco defended.

Kelly was about to say something but the room was lit by torches on the walls and an Ethereal humanoid monster floating up from the alter caught their attention.

Marco's eyes locked with the ghosts for just a moment and suddenly he was swallowed in complete darkness.

* * *

Marco looked down and was grateful he had his clothes on, he then turned his head to where there last was a mirror, but it was now replaced by a door. He was on his way there when suddenly the sound of a light switch turned could be heard. Marco instinctively turned his head to the light source and to his surprise he saw a small theater.

" Go, take a seat," Ghost's voice came from the loudspeakers.

Marco hesitantly took a seat in the middle of the big screen, as soon as he did the seat shackled him. Before he could even complain, the screen turned on.

"Why did you go so far?" Came the ghost's voice while a film of Marco with heavy bags under his eyes as he was working with mountains of paper and a dummy thick law book Infront of him was on the screen.

"Perhaps because you knew how she felt, you had the same circumstances but hers was worse." Marco knew exactly what the ghost meant.

" You came crashing in her life after her emotional wounds have healed, wounds that YOU left. "

The screen showed when Star first confessed in front of everyone and later turned to her looking uncomfortable on the stairs when he came crashing into her life.

"Oh, you felt distressed and you had so much guilt. You saw how much work she had and you lessened that to a great degree, but what did she do with that extra time? She used it on Tom! Oh, You could tag along and that you would, but every time you die little by little. Oh, It went on for so long, didn't it? The dedication, the love, and the loyalty slowly but surely turned to anger and betrayal. You began questioning your bond. How could she put Tom in front of you every time when you always put Star first? How can she not see through your fake smile? Does she not care anymore? "

On-screen was a film of Marco working again turned on and then cut to Star and Tom having fun shopping while Marco was holding shopping bags. It turned to another scene with Star and Tom having fun ice skating and Marco ice skating alone in the background. Another scene, another scene, another scene, another, another, another...

"She doesn't care about you." said the ghost. The screen turned black as well as the light until the screen flashed again blinding Marco for a moment, when he could see again he saw Star and Himself, he was a bit beat up in Star's room.

" I can't believe you are going to punish me," Marco shouted in disbelief.

" And I can't believe you beat up other squires," Star shouted angrily in Marco's face.

"What was I suppose to do, let them beat me up, AGAIN?" Marco retorted while dong extreme arm gestures to further his argument.

" Just tell me about it, I'll do something," Star said in a badly controlled leveled voiced.

Marco frowned, " I have and you tried, but it only made it worse. I took it in my own hands and now it is going to be better," Marco said matching Star's level of voice.

" No, it is not. You will go and apologize to them all and then you will fulfill squire Higgs duty until she recovers." Star said in an ending of a discussion voice.

He was in disbelief. " You want me to apologize, you know how they treat me," Marco said surprised.

"No I don't, Marco, I only know what you told me," Star said annoyed.

"Then come with me after you have disguised yourself then you can see how bad it is," Marco pleaded.

"I can't, I have finally finished my paperwork and I have the rest of the day off to go on a date with Tom," Star said.

"But it will only take an hour, max" Marco complained.

"I'm already late," Star said in her normal voice, but to him, it felt really cold. Marco didn't respond and Star took it as an answer turning her back to Marco.

"you only have time now because I did most of the work while you slept," Marco mumbled in one breath.

Star turned around crooking her head a little as if she was asking.

"Nothing, I just said have a good time," Marco said grumpily.

"Oh, okay, thanks," Star said as she left like nothing had happened.

The screen turned black and then on, blinding Marco again. He saw Star and himself in Star's room again.

"But Star this is my day off," Marco tried to convince Star.

"Marco I need you to watch Glossrick while I'm on a diplomatic visit in the underworld" Star explained.

"That's some BS you are going to hang out with Tom" Marco retorted a bit angry.

"Which is a diplomatic visit," Star said ignoring his mood.

" I cannot watch gloss" Marco stated firmly with no room for negotiation.

Star sighed. "I'm sorry, but I order you to watch Glossrick today as my royal squire," Star ordered.

"I'll be sure to bring back an awesome souvenir," Star said as she left. Marco just stood not answering in shock.

"She doesn't want you in Mewni," the ghost said, and the same thing happened again. He saw Star and himself walking downstairs toward the subbasement.

"What does Jackie think about all this?" Star asked as casually as possible, but Marco knew Star to well. She is asking questions because she is not into the thought if she was he would already have a room.

"Uh, yeah she wasn't so into it... but you know me, there is nobody telling me what to do, haha," Marco said uncomfortably. He tried his hardest not to cringe as Star looked at him in disbelief.

There was silence again until Marco broke it after a few seconds. "So are you and-"

"Yep," Star cut him off with a sharp reply shutting him up.

They walked for a bit until the film was cut short as the screen ran analog noise. "Alright, I'm gonna help your sorry ass," Monster Arm said.

The film that showed up was one Marco recognized immediately. The day Star came into his life, he had to face monsters for the first time with Star. He clearly remembers the adrenalin rush, the joy of victory and the first hug he had with Star. And he hated it.

Monster Arm sensed Marco's feelings and put up another film. It was Star crying while holding an injured Marco, it was right after the magical lint monster incident. Again he hated it.

"Enough," Marco shouted and the film was stopped." What's up with everybody trying to fuck with my head." Marco's glared at the ghost. "You don't need to show me this, I have been thinking about it all, everything you show me."

Marco can't get into detail or even start for that matter. It is all a cluster fuck in his mind. He wants the past and Star wants the future. It's the original reason why he wants to break his and Stars curse if the curse is manipulating his feelings for Star then there's a chance that everything can go back to normal or rather the old normal when it was all fun and games.

The destruction of the book forced thoughts into his mind, it was painful but the pain turned to relief, so much began to make sense. Every new experience was kept from him, many of his fun times kept from him, many good memories old and new kept from him, all in that book. Why? Because he would have left Star. Every development he had would ultimately end up with them parting ways. The book kept his mind from developing, but not his body, his body remembers all hardships and good times. It explains why being with people he thought he bearly knew was comfortable and felt so normal.

"I have always been questioning if what I did was right or justified, and I've come to the conclusion that there are no right or wrong, " Marco stated.

After thinking everything through with all of his thoughts in his head. He has decided Star is right, the past is the past one shouldn't envy it but cherish, but either should one neglect the past there's nothing wrong with wanting how things were. But she is so cruel, she wanted Marco at her side but kept demoting him. Maybe it's supercilious or pompous but he doesn't want to be just another servant, he is more than that, right?

The ghost looked astonished and said, "wow, that's very mature, but that is not the point of this trial." The ghost switched demeanor to an interrogational one. "Your disgusting parasite showed you happy memories, now tell me why did you hate them."

"I don't know"

"WHY?"

"I just do"

"That's not good enough" The ghost snapped its fingers and a recent memory flashed only to turn off immediately.

"No, I'm tired of you showing me my memories. Tell me, why does it matter that I hate them?"

The ghost snapped again but nothing, with a satisfied smile or at least Marco though it looked that way, "You have passed the trial of the mind, but I would urge you to find out why they bring you pain." The ghost said.

* * *

Marco was in the room with the altar again.

"Alright you have earned the trials reward," the ghost said.

Marco blinked black spots away and saw Kelly. "Great, but do something about my friend here," Marco demanded, gesturing to a crying, mumbling Kelly.

"Just give her a slap and she will wake up, but it would be for the better if you didn't," the ghost said. Marco controlled his anger, he was scared that he would slap her harder than intended if he was worked up.

"What would be worse if I woke her up?" Marco asked.

"She would lose her chance to complete the trial, either to find the answer or retake control of her mind as you did."

It pained him to see Kelly crying, to see the normally happy face-

"That is a lie and you know it," Monster Arm interjected Marcos thought.

He knew that happy face was a mask, she hasn't gotten over Tad and her breaking up. But he knows she will get over it, she has a lot of friends. While he only has her in his life on Mewni.

"Hey what about me?" Monster Arm asked offended.

"Look, y-"

"nnno, p-p-plss s-stop, I-I gave Y-y an answer," Kelly mumbled.

That's it, it may be selfish but he can't stand to hear her sound so pitiful.

Marco went and lightly slapped her, but it did nothing. He then apologized in advance for a proper slap. He caught Kelly that was about to fall, Marco grimaced as a red handprint could be seen on her cheek.

Kelly's blank eyes came to life in Marco's arms. She turned red from embarrassment as she process that she was crying while being held by Marco and it didn't help that Marco was wiping her tears away.

All the while Marco felt nostalgic. This reminded him of the lava beach day when he held Kelly as she confessed her predicament. He felt good helping her, not because of obligations or orders, but because she was his friend. A thing Kelly said that day after he got Tad out of her hair (literally). "I love the soul rise and I don't want it to be a place that makes me sad, the only thing to do is to face it, rewrite it so it was mine again." But isn't that only fixing it on a superficial level, making the Soul Rise your own again is not fixing the problem when the root of the problem is Tad. Maybe he was doing the same, perhaps what he should do is-.

"M-mind letting me go?" Kelly shyly asked.

Marco coming to his senses let Kelly stand as she thanked him, he then turned his attention to the ghost. " You said I completed the trial of the mind, but that means there is another," Marco stated to change the awkward air.

"Very perceptive of you," The ghost sarcastically said causing Marco to frown. " There is another trial, the trial of the body. After you have your reward, you will have to fight your way out and if you survive, you will learn its true value."

"Wait so all those skeletons on our way here failed the trial of the body?" Marco asked.

The ghost nodded with a sadistic smile.

Marco looked at Kelly askingly and she responded with an excited smile and a nod. Her eyes were still red, but nothing compared to her excitement, she couldn't wait to kick some ass.

"You know maybe, we can use this to our advantage," Monster Arm said.

Marco stood with a frown that turned into a smirk and he pulled out his scissors and the ghost smile vanished instantly. "I'm sure you know what these are, but I will make you a deal, you will give her a reward too and we won't use these to get out," Marco said with an arrogant smile.

"How do I know that you won't use them anyway," the ghost asked skeptically.

"I swear in the name of Sir Lavabo and on my honor as a martial artist,"

"Deal. Now the both of you come closer to the alter" The ghost said as he got bigger.

They did as ordered. The ghost placed one hand on the wooden box and another towards Marco's hand.

Marco gave the ghost his hand as soon as he did the box glowed and it opened. The ghost let go of his hand and indicated to him that he could proceed to open the wooden box.

Kelly watched with anticipation. Marco was excited like a little kid on Christmas day. He opened the box and the content was a white skull mask with no jaw made of hard metal. Marco looked askingly at the ghost as the latter ignored him and turned his attention to Kelly.

The ghost signed "A deal is a deal, the walking hairball who failed to complete the trial of the mind will also get a reward. Now give me your hand"

Kelly ignored his passive-aggressiveness and did as he ordered.

The box glowed again and Marco watched as Kelly opened the box.

Kelly picked up a pair of glasses identical to her own, the only difference was it was pink.

Marco expected a look of disappointment when he turned his attention from the pink glasses to Kelly's face. But she was just staring at it.

"Now let the trial of the body begin." The ghost said dramatically. Marco placed his mask in his duffel bag and Kelly placed her glasses in her hair. Marco was relived, she was out of her shook or whatever it was.

Marco and Kelly touch each other's backs and took a defensive stance with their swords.

"Ahhh" Marco shouted.

"What is it?" Kelly asked worriedly.

"Wet socks, why?" Marco complained.

Kelly looked down, she hadn't noticed because her soles were higher than the water level. But that changed quickly the water level was rising. Sharp pain in her leg, she lifts it and there was a fish biting into her leg. She cut the fish in half and shouted " we need to run Marco,"

"Right" Marco ran for the door with Kelly right behind him.

"This is going to be an easy trial if we just need to outrun the wateeeeeeeeeeeeeeer." Marco was about to fall into a pit.

They stood in front of now the trap infested passage. There was a pitfall, walls that exploded into the opposite wall every few seconds and holes where pikes jumped out and retracted only to jump again.

"Me and my stupid mouth," Marco said, as Kelly passed him and jumped over the 5-meter long pitfall in front of him. As soon as she did the pitfall was now filled by a tile that came from the hole and a hole came in the wall beside Marco and water began to come out.

Marco quickly test-stepped on the tile and quickly ran past it to Kelly's side. "Okay, I guess I'll take the next one."

Marco had to clear the crushing trap, Marco gave Kelly his torch and took his crowbar and placed it in the gap that came when the wall crashed into the opposite wall and as he hoped the wall didn't jump anymore.

"Kelly can you get my crowbar free?" Marco asked as the cleared the obstacle.

"I'll try" Kelly with all her strength twisted it out.

"Stop!" Marco shouted before Kelly entered the traps range, "We will wait for 10 seconds to see if it has been deactivated."

They waited the 10 seconds, Kelly at this point has gotten used to his cautiousness after spending two weeks of adventure with him. The water was now up to their calves and it only began rising faster. At the pike trap, Marco stopped Kelly from running past them after they retracted. Marco wanted to cut the pikes when they were out, but time wouldn't allow that Kelly complained, so they came to a compromise, Marco would throw Kelly when the pikes retracted.

They cleared the traps just like that, but every time the water would begin to rise faster. The water was now up to their hips, luckily the fish in the water was afraid of the light. They finally reached the stairs, a wave of water came from the passage, they embraced for the wave that collided with them. The wave extinguished all the torches in the passage and their own. The stairway was still lit with a torch every couple of meters, they rushed up the stairs now, the water was rising one step every second. They needed to outrun the water.

Finally out after running up the stairs, the iron doors closed automatically. They stood with their hands on their knees catching their breaths.

"So this is the last adventure," Kelly said having caught her breath.

"I don't know about the last, but it will properly be an extended while before we go on another"

"Not the most exciting adventure to end it on," Kelly said.

There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence until Kelly broke it.

"You know, I'm glad you took me with you. That mind trial made me realize that I shouldn't constantly distract myself from my problems, it'll only pile up. " Kelly said, "But apparently that's not the answer." she continued with irritation.

Marco seizing the moment to ask. "well, um... on the topic of distraction, what is it that you need distracting you from?" Marco asked. Kelly didn't react. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it."

Kelly sighed "You already guessed, its Tad, always is," she said getting a bit emotional. She noticed Marco looking guilty and she put up a little smile, "I had only one pair of glasses, it was a gift from Tad. Now that I got a new pair, it's going to be better, hopefully. So you don't have to worry about me, I'll be alright."

"What are you saying? I'm going to worry either way because I care about you. We won't be spending time together like the past two weeks, but I will keep in touch, after all, I'm only a portal away" Marco said pulling his scissors from his hoodie.

With no way to respond to that, she simply smiled.

Marco opened a portal. Before she went in, she hugged him and he hugged her back. "I hope you find what you're looking for

When Kelly was gone Monster Arm asked again "So, what about me?"

"What You did trying to help me, was nice of you, but again there is more to it than that. But instead of being a host and a sentient parasite how about us being partners?"

"That would work,"

"Then it settled, partner," Marco said cowboyish.

**What do you think of Kelly? I hope I did her justice. Anyway, until next time.**


	8. Update

**Hello, I just want you all to know that this story won't be updated for a while. I have come across some big problems IRL and since I actually want to write a proper fanfiction story and not just write to write therefore have I decided to take a break. I will continue to write as I have started a new story, but it's just thoughtless writing or emotional, at the moment or whatever you can call it as I need a way to train myself because I suck, I have reread my whole story and the first few chapters were less than what I remember them too be, not that I had that high of an expectation. Anyway, I'm rambling, see ya at the next chapter in the future.**


	9. First day of Solis and Luna

**I'm finally back and omg, a chapter title and not just a number. It's properly a bad title but its better than a number and a lot more convenient when I have to reread to remember something.**

* * *

Marco was in his room, equipping his newly modified armor. His new armor would be more fitting, it was unrecognizable from before. It had been cut a bit off, it's just a bit longer than the lowest rib of his ribcage. The magical stone in the middle of the armor was covered by metal. Under the armor was a thin scaly long sleeve hide shirt. His plated metal gauntlet was reinforced at the knuckles with thicker metal and short fat spikes and fitted nicely with his elbow guards that also had that fat spike. His humeral was only protected by the scaly hide. His lower body was protected by a thicker scaly hide, Marco wouldn't be surprised if they came from the same creature. And only his shin and knee were reinforced with metal that both had short fat spikes that complimented the black boots. It was completely black, it had a dragonic look to it. All in all, it looked like a hybrid of a knight and a rouge. And to top it all off was his headgear a jawless white skull. He looked himself in the mirror, that ought to be the most menacing looking knight he had ever seen, even black knights in the underworld was more colorful.

Marco was to meet with Solis and was told not to eat breakfast, at this point he just did what the man said. Marco was willing to trust the man to that extent. Marco opened a portal to the living room, he was greeted by Solis and Luna.

"Goodmorning, Marco, and might I add you look excellent." Solis complemented, Luna nodded and thumped Marco up. "So I'll go ahead and brief you in, Luna is in charge of your mental and spiritual training while I will train you physically and tactically. And you will start training what I have planned and then you will go on to my dear sister's training program. Any questions?"

"I don't think so."

"Good, there's nothing like the present. Let's go." Solis says a bit too eagerly. Marco has a bad feeling about the training but goes through the portal Solis had summoned anyway.

He was right, he found himself in an open mud plain that was littered with swords, axes, maces, halberds, spears you name it varying sizes of each kind. It looked like the aftermath of a giant battlefield, but it was weird, there were no bodies of the fallen, and if they were retrieved then why not also the weapons and there's no smell of blood.

Marco's train of thought was promptly stopped when he saw 6 knights and a rouge each wielding different weapons and 2 creatures of unknown origin that are the complete opposite of each other. One big and bulky the other small and nimble.

"Are they also looking to become death knights?" Marco asks looking a bit relieved but that is quickly replaced by worry as Solis shakes his head.

"No, they are too heighten your abilities with each of their specialty. You will spar, one on one, with them, using the weapons in the ground but you will have to use your opponent type of weapon, every 10 min you will fight a new opponent when you have fought with everyone, will it simply repeat until I deem it is enough."

Marco's face is just filled with dread but he has to push through. "Alright who is first?"

Luna sits and hums beautifully while she goes over her training program, there are lots to be done if the 2. phase of his training should ever start. She lightly chuckles when she imagines how he would react to the first lesson.

As if on cue a portal opens and out is a bloody Marco thrown. " Good, go on take a seat over there." She points to a simple chair and a table.

"Come on now, you cant just lay there." Marco was unresponsive, he just laid there hyperventilating trying to get as much air in his system as possible.

"Oh, poor boy, he worked you to the bone, didn't he?" She went closer looking down on the dead tired champion in training.

She leans down and runs a hand down his face getting rid of most of the half-dry blood and then locks eyes. She smiles at him, " I trust my brother has healed your wounds, and I'm sure you're tired and famished, but if you are to be our champion then rise." She whispers and places a kiss on his forehead.

Marco just looks at her with his tired, bloodshot eyes and after a few seconds get struggling up like a zombie. He stands on wobbling feet and is ready to collapse at any moment. She takes his hand and leads him to his seat.

He sits with his head back and his arms just hanging. "First you will have to clean your armor."

He happily complies taking his armor off after a great deal of struggle.

"Also your under armor and your shirt."

He gets it all off without question and finds a rag, a Scotch-Brite pad, and a weird-smelling bucket on the table.

He wipes the armor and gets rid of most dirt and blood, and would use spit but the only slime comes out and now clings to his chin. He uses the dirty rag to while his chin, not caring about the mixture of dirt and blood left on his chin. He had been almost literally forced to eat mud and dirt, so a dirty rag hardly matters. After moistening the bigger chunk of dried blood and reduced the dirtiness the most a rag could. He uses the pad, lightly dipping the gritted part in the bucket, and proceeded to scrub the surface in circular motions.

He tightened his back when a cold rag touches him. "Relax, I'm going to applying a salve." After riding his back of sweat she applied a thin layer of salve.

He finished cleaning his chest armor and proceeded to repeat the process for all his armor. It was actually nice, it allowed him to breathe and relax his body. However, it also gave him the luxury to notice Lunas get up. In what world is a transparent robe acceptable.

"If you are distracted now, we are going to have problems." She stands opposite to him. "Don't stop scrubbing that armor not gonna clean itself."

"Bloodmoon goddess, Luna Sanguis, could you please take some proper clothes on." Marco locked eyes or at least he tried to.

"I appreciate the respect, but call me Luna, you are our champion in training and not some mortal." He nodded and continued scrubbing.

"Then Luna, Ill ask again. Would you be so kind as to get proper clothes."

She smiles at him "No can do, even in our brief conversation you were distracted by my body 15 times in total and that won't do."

"...It is out of my control."

"Your boner is out of your control, but your mind getting flustered and distracted is not."

"Wha-I... its instinct." Marco flusteredly defends.

"No need to be embarrassed as you said its instinct, but we need to fix that childish attitude of yours."

"How?" He asked dumbfounded.

"There are a couple of ways and you are doing them all." She smiles sadistically at him.

"Could you not smile like that like I'm gonna be in a world of hurt."

"Well, that obviously because you are going to hurt...a lot."

He drops his head on the table in agony, but at least it couldn't be worse than what the eclipse god had forced him to endure. "I'm done with my armor, I will-."

"Leave your upper body exposed." She stops him from taking his shirt and armor on.

"If you say so."

She nods and snaps her fingers. "Now I have picked women that mostly resemble humans." In instant pair of various animal girls, you would see in anime comes in. Foxes, bunnies, raccoons, and dogs.

"And why?" Marco asked. He eyed one of the dog girls that kinda resemble one of his laser puppies.

"For your training of course." She said as if it all made sense.

"..." He just looked skeptical.

"It's true-" One of the foxes said.

"We are here to help you train." The other fox finished.

Marco taking in the situation, Luna in the sexual getup, the beast girls just as inappropriately dressed and somehow this is part of his training. "All- Woah!"

He instinctively dodges a ball that imbeds itself into a wall. "What the fuck! That could have killed me."

"Don't be silly, it will only kill you if it hits your head." Said the girl that resembles one of his laser puppies way to playfully.

Marco looks at Luna. She throws a black gemstone and as soon as he catches it the lights in the room turned off leaving them all in total darkness. "The rules are simple for this exercise, you need to dodge incoming projectiles while verbally pointing out changes when we call your name."

"Wha- this makes no-aaaaahhhhhh." A ball came flying and hit one of his thighs. He doesn't have time to waste, he jumps randomly and hits a wall. That makes no sense there weren't any walls near him. Marco ignores his bewilderment and concentrates for a split second to use night vision a spell he learned from Solis. His hunch was right this gem he got is just like the one he has in his armor. It a wonder how he can use this stone since a magic stone can only be used by the one it binds itself too.

"ARhhhhhhh" Another ball hit him. He doesn't have the luxury to worry about currently irrelevant things. He hears calls for him and turns his attention to a raccoon girl. He hesitated and got hit by three balls. They hurt like hell and leaves him on the ground. Due to their kindness or more likely their dismay, they stop bombarding him with balls.

"Get up, you don't have time to lay down." A bunny girl said.

He gets up again. "She..." He dodges another ball. "She has no... clothes on."

Another call for him, but he can't see any difference and after a few seconds, "She had her hair cut by a cm" And he got electrocuted and got hit my more balls in the chest, his legs and arms, "you need to pay more attention even to the minimal details," Luna said.

"How the hell am-" An extra fastball came flying. "That almost hit my head!"

"That is what you deserve for disrespecting our goddess." said the girl that almost killed him.

"So stop dodging." one behind him said.

"are you cra-" All went black in the already black room when he caught a ball to the side of his head.

"Oh my." Luna clapped her hands and the room lit up. "He lost sooner than I expected. Oh well, girls its time for the message and medical treatment, I want him to awaken with a fatigue less body."

And the animal girls went to work.

It has been almost three weeks since she last saw Marco. Her life was doing better, her lifestyle began a new normal. It was ridiculous when she talked with Marco's parents about it, they thought he had died since then she thought of how to properly phrase her meaning. It was weird and kind of hard to talk about Marco, but Tom was actually the one who pushed her and stood with her. She had forgiven him for burning the book after he had tried zealously to get her forgiveness, it is a bit ironic that he got her forgiveness when he decided to stop chasing it and just start helping where he could. He used his status and wealth as a prince to form a party to find Marco, not capture. And when he awkwardly but sincerely apologized she forgave him. Since then he has been a perfect boyfriend, he offers support whenever he can, she just wished she could do something for him, but he insisted that just being together was enough, even if it was reading law books.

"Tom, are you sleeping?" Star softly asked not to wake him if he was sleeping.

She looked up from her book and saw Tom laying on his back with a book in his face.

An embarrassing thought came to mind. When Marco had left her for the second time she was emotionally crushed. She didn't know what came over her but she had life-size mannequins of Marco and his parents and acted that they were real. She talked to them less and less when she began preparing for Eclipsas trial and completely forget the mannequins when Tom came into the picture until he accidentally found them.

She vaguely told him what she used them for and he interpreted that she was using them as training when she would confront them and he had then pushed her to do it, arguing that they deserve to know and promised to be there with her.

The confrontation was very reassuring, they told her that he would come back when he was done adventuring, he had sent them letters. He is apparently studying and training for an awesome profession.

She then asked a nerve-wracking question; "do you know why he left?" They said that he wasn't happy to be a squire and wanted to go adventuring. She decided to come clean and dismiss the white lie he told them. She confessed to them; how the people had been treating him, how she had let him down, and apologized to them.

They had that weird smile like they didn't know what to do, but they then reassured her that he didn't blame her and that they would make up like always. Star desperately clung to those words, they gave her hope that they could be friends again.

Star took the book off his face and placed a bookmarker before closing it. She then proceeded to watch him sleep a bit and touch his warm cheek, she moves her hand up through his hair towards his horn.

The horns, his third eye, and his skin all unmewman-like. Star sometime after she forgave him, told him about Marco's diary. She was surprised that Tom kinda knew Marco was being discriminated and spite by the mewmans. Tom could see it in the eyes of the other mewmans, Tom had those eyes upon himself, but when Marco was around they were directed at him. Star almost shouted at him why he didn't say anything at the time, but she already knew. Marco was so reliable and never complained when he started being her squire and maybe that's why she began disregarding him. It was slow, but surely he turned from a friend first and squire second to squire first and friend second.

Why are her people so discriminating against peculiar beings? She frowns in irritation.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Tom woke from her caressing touch.

"Oh... I was just... thinking of annoying things." She sheepishly said.

Tom raised an arm and took hold of her shoulder and in one motion he pulls her from her kneeling position having her head on his lap as he sits upright. He locks eyes with her again while caressing her heart marks and then he kisses her on the lips.

"Well, now you can think of me."

"I already were." She smiles tenderly at him.

"With that face. Should I be worried?" He joked.

"Only if you don't kiss me again."

He runs his hand through her hair and bends down again to deliver a kiss.

* * *

**That is the chapter, the next will properly be a short one, properly a review of what he learns since I want his character development to happen during his journey to be a god chosen champion/knight.**


	10. No bonds

**Hello, been some time. I hope you all are well and will enjoy this long chapter ( at least by my standard. ) The first entry is obviously the chapter before, so you can be sure of how much you can trust them.**

* * *

Entry 1.

Who only counts when you fail? I push myself to the limit and then he starts the counting. Let me not even get started with injuries, "Don't worry you'll be healed as good as new." The only good thing is the people he brought with him and even the two more bestial ones taught me a lot. Luna's training I can't remember much of, but after whatever she did my body feels great.

Entry x

The training is something only the devil could design, but that is just like Solis. But it is interesting, the principles behind an undead knight and much different from my views on the undead. Third-wheeling after Star Butterfly and Tom Lucitor had changed my view on undead, they were goofy... too human. But an undead after Solis definition is what I originally thought supernatural living dead were: Relentless, emotionless, tireless, obsessive, and ever-hungry killing horrors. And all I wonder is how a knight can proudly stand for those traits.

Entry x

A couple of days has been... what is the word, intense, crazy or unreasonable, maybe a combination? Anyway, Solis training has been hell much more than normal. Perhaps it's just everyday suffering that is stockpiling. But I'm losing it, losing my will to keep going... Yet I keep going. Why? Because of Luna, I don't know if her easing my fatigue and mind is a blessing or a curse.

Entry x

Finally, my P.H.D comes in handy. Who would have thought the undead knight uses psychological warfare in fights. All tho I am conflicted with brutalizing other people. I don't have a problem with giving a quick death to a bad guy, but the things Solis wants me to learn...

Entry xx

I'm pretty sure Solis is manipulating me. Solis is teaching me said action, perhaps he wants me to call him out for it... Anyway, I have to keep tabs on myself. On a brighter note, have I never enjoyed training as much as Lunas, it is like going to school, a school one that gives you a massage while you study... souls.

Entry xx

My time talking with Solis has made me realize something. I've been a whiny wimp for my whole life. Being the 3. wheel? Bullied? stress? Pain? I deserve it, I haven't been doing shit to change, I've just accepted. But no more, as an undead knight it won't ever happen again... I hope...

Entry xx

I've learned the power. The power to turn day into night, blackout the sun, blackout suns... That is so cool, but hard. It is the only magical thing he will teach besides night vision, essentially saying magic is overrated. And I can see that when he points out magics flaws, but he did say Luna had something worthwhile I'm going to learn and I'm excited about that.

Entry xx

A person that can turn the day into night, trap them in that darkness, steal soul fragments from the fallen and the living. That sounds like something from supernatural horror fiction and that's not the worst of it. I can take the entire soul of a person if they allow me to, doesn't matter if they were trick or manipulated...

Entry xx

I get to learn all the little skills I have at some point wished for, picking a lock and being sneaky like some kind of infiltrator. It is pretty cringing when I think back on my fantasies from my youth. God I sound old and technically I am, yet I'm not at the same time. That... that has gotten completely of topic and... I'm too tired I need rest.

Entry xx

I've gotten a bad feeling as of late. Solis mentioned Eclipsa's trial and I don't even want to know why he brought it up, but with everything, I learned... And what I know... I'm not going to like it. It should be safe... but I will practice it on others first.

* * *

A nervous Star Butterfly sat on a chair behind the judges that consisted of the magical high commission and her mom. And it didn't help that every royal, noble, and high station person was against the accused CORN even the judges were biased.

Okay, everything had been leading up to this moment, I can't mess this up because I'm prepared, she composed herself. She prepared because she can't wing it, she is not that kind of princess anymore. She had pieces of paper with keywords. The keywords helped her remember what she had to say. But who was she kidding? Her mom and the high commission had a big stack of paper in front of them. She felt discouraged, but she was going through with this after all this was Marcos, Toms, and her own effort.

Star walked up to the judges and sneaked a glance over their shoulders. She looked at the top of the papers and was a bit surprised. The papers were reports of incidents Eclipsa had done, from property damage to have injured people and all kinds of trouble, when she was younger and was still a princess. Star was perplexed, Eclipsa didn't seem like an impulsive troublemaker, but she also felt happy. Eclipsa was once just like me, Star thought. Star began to realize and was afraid because if incidents like those were reported then how many did she herself have, how big would her pile be. Star came out of her train of thoughts when someone entered.

Eclipsa came cuffed through the large double door and walked onto her pedestal as the accused. All the while hell break lose, every spectator to the trial shouted profanities, the only ones who didn't were the judges except Rhombulus, Tom, and Star.

Moon slammed a piece of wood that was carved into corn on her table. "Quiet, quiet." When silence came she continued. "we are starting the trial for the crimes committed by Eclipsa the queen of darkness."

Star resisted the urge to shout "love isn't a crime."

"The accused is charged with multiple assault charges, property damage, improper use of magic and the royal wand,-"

"Excuse me-"

"You will speak when asked." Omnitraxus Prime threateningly interjected.

"Yeah, shut up baby eater!"

"Rhombulus, for the last time she wasn't the baby eater!" Heckapoo shouted just as loud.

"Silence, Silence!" Again Moon had to quiet and she failed to hide her annoyance which worked much more effectively than demanding quiet.

"I wish to invoke trial by box," Eclipsa said before Moon could say anything. There were loud gasps coming from the spectators.

"Don't be absurd Eclipsa only I can invoke trial by... box..." A single runed box is being descended from seemingly nowhere from the ceiling and silence everyone for a few moments.

"Queen Eclipsa have invoked trial by box, I now have the authority even over the queen and in this case queens of Mewni."

Moon was about to protest, "I am now the judge, jury, and punisher. And I degree this trial a private one for the good of Mewni." The box unfolded and trapped the magic high commission and Eclipsa.

"What about me!?" Star shouted while she knocked or rather slammed a fist on the now giant box.

A small tile on the outside fliped and a mouth now replaced it, "You aren't part of the trail." it said and flip again.

"But I'm the defendant of the accused!"

The tile flipped again revealing a mouth "No you aren't, there are zero papers about this trial mentioning you. Eclipsa has no defended. End of discussion and if you disrupt again, you will be charged and receive the maximum punishment for disrupting a trial by box. "

Star stood with her mouth open with bewilderment. Who does this box think it is, she thought. She would be damned if she lets all of her and their hard work to waste. She took her wand and powered it up.

"I'm sorry Star, I know it's hard to watch all your hard work go to waste, but I have to do this. And I think its best you don't know what's being revealed in here."

Star was a bit conflicted and it didn't help that Eclipsa's words came out of the box's mouth. Stars wand powered down and the mouth was now replaced by a tile. Star ran out of the courtroom and Tom tried to leave as well but he had trouble as he was in the crowd of spectators and they for some reason wanted to stay.

Stars running slowly came to a halt when she reached the entrance of the garden. She didn't have a goal in mind when she ran, she only wanted a place to calm down her frustration and apparently, fate decided it would be the garden.

She walked in and soon she saw a bench, a familiar bench. She sat down and held her head in her hands.

"Uhm... Don't you think its a waste to look in your hands when there are beautiful flowers around?"

"Can you leave-" Star stopped mid-sentence. That voice sounded very familiar and when she looked up there stood Marco with his signature red hoodie and dark grey jeans.

"M-M-Marco, wha-what are you doing here?" Star almost shouted.

"I, uhm... I came to see the trial." He answered while scratching his chin.

"... Sorry... It seems all our hard work was for nothing." Again she burrowed her head in her hands.

Marco was about to touch her shoulder in comfort but stopped himself. "Isn't it silly to apologize for something out of your control? She made her choice."

She looked up at his face "You know, you speak weird." She suddenly flaunts her arms everywhere when she starts apologizing "I-I mean you speak differently... sorry"

He smiles a bit at the display, it gave him a nostalgic feeling. "It's alright, asking a rhetorical question is an annoying habit I've picked up."

"From who?"

"Marco!" Tom stood at the entrance of the garden, he was panting heavily and sweating. He has looked everywhere for her and now he finds her with him. "You turd, do you have any idea of how Star has been feeling from your stunt."

Tom walked straight to Marco, ignoring Star completely. He now stood face to face with Marco. "Tom stop, it's alright-"

"No it isn't, I should punch him in the face right now for what he has done," Tom interjected.

"Well, it's your only chance to do so. I came to see the trial, but I also came as a final goodbye." Marco turns from looking at Tom and looks at Star.

"Final goodbye... We will never see each other again?" Star asks innocently.

"Sorry, I mean it will be a while, a long while." Marco corrects himself.

"So wanna go on an adventure now?" Star asks to hope to postpone his leave.

"Actually..."Marco is trying his best to ignore Toms glare at him. "We could go on an adventure at some point along with Kelly and of course Tom, but first can we talk just the two of us in your room?"

"Sure," Star answer instantly.

"Um, star?" Marco gesture to Tom with his head.

She turns her attention to him and sees he has a displeased almost borderline angry expression. "Is that not okay Tom?" Star asks.

Tom sighs, "it's fine but under one condition, Marco and I will also have a private talk, a talk only us two can have." Tom looks directly into Marco's eyes.

"What do-" Star gets cut off.

"Wait here, I'll come after my talk with Star." Tom only nods and goes to sit down on the bench next to Star.

Marco walks out of the garden.

"Tom... are-"

"It's fine Star, you don't have to worry." Tom cuts her off.

"Would it not be weird if I didn't worry as your girlfriend?"

He smiles a bit and shakes his head, "you are already weird, you are my weird little starship." Star smiles and places a quick kiss on his cheek before she left.

* * *

Marco sat beside the door to Star's room. And he hears footsteps, heavy footsteps. He sees two patrolling guards.

"Oi isn't that earth-turd." One of the big guards points to him.

"Yeah, your right. Hey bitch! Finally, come crawling back to be the princesses pet!" the other shouted.

"Yeah. Is it too hard not to have a silver spoon in your mouth."

Marco ignored them in favor to think of how he should go about Star.

"So how are you doing this?" Marco's partner asks.

"I could just do it by force, but I would like to avoid that."

The two knights turn a right, as they mumble about him being lucky that they have to follow the patrol route.

"Why don't-ya?"

Marco rolls his eyes, "Everything shouldn't be done by violence just because you can."

"You just have a lovely soft spot for her, don't-ya?"

"Shut up here she comes." Marco ended his conversation in his head with Monster Arm.

"Why are you waiting outside?" Star asks as she skips across the hallway.

"I can't just go into some girl's bedroom." He answers as he gets up.

"Oh, right... by the way, props for not leaning on the wall with your arm crossed and being all bad boy wannabe." Star forcefully joked.

He gets up "I don't know what you're talking about."

Star skips past him. "sure you don't," she says as she opens her bedroom door.

Marco followed her and went to sit beside Star on her bed. They just sat there in silence. Star didn't know how to initiate or if she even should.

The silence continued until Marco broke it. "Star."

"Yeah," She answers while looking into the thin air.

"I haven't forgiven you," He says bluntly.

"..." She looks down into her lap, no tears threatening to spill only the silently acceptance.

"But I'm willing to try." Star looks at Marco who is staring into the air. "...I know you didn't mean to, but..." He looks at her, "you still hurt me."

Star looks away into her lap and this time a tear almost forces its way out, it wasn't what he said that made her avert her gaze, it was his expression. His eyes were tired and he didn't have a frown or anything else for that matter, it was as if he had given up. Given up on her, given up on their friendship.

"Sorry..." Is all Star could muster.

"It's... I hope you are cause it's going to be hard."

"..." She hugs her legs and rests her head on her knees and Marco... just proceeded to explain.

"I can come under the pretext that it is work and then we have a day to do whatever you want... but it requires me to... to hurt you."

"..."

"It's not dangerous, but it hurts and you may have side-effects like vomiting, headaches, and the like..."

Marco sat there and lets her digest his words.

"I want it." She turns to him and his response likewise, "I want the chance to make it up to you, Marco."

"Okay. Let's do it, but you need to know that you can back out whenever you want."

Marco stood up and Star was about to follow but he pushes her down. "It's better if you lay there." She did as suggested.

"Star close your eyes and don't open them until we are done. Understood?"

"Yeah," Star affirmed while ignoring his almost military commanding tone.

He took the corner of the cover on the bed, "here bite into this." He placed the fabric on her face and she just... she just began trying to bite the blanket over and over again. Marco would lie if he said it wasn't kind of adorable. He chuckled and then the intensity of the biting rose. "Alright, alright, let me help you. Open your mouth and don't bite my finger."

She just opened her mouth and he could see the dent forming on the fabric where she draws her breath. He places a finger on both ends of her mouth and pushes the fabric down a few centimeters. He pulled out and she bit. He wondered why she didn't just use her own hands, maybe it was deliberate to make him laugh, or perhaps she didn't just think about it, either way, he decided to categorize it as a Star thing.

"Here I go." and he got an affirmative nod from her. He flexed his hands and they were then coated in a red glow.

He pulled her dress down a bit and placed a hand right in the middle of her chest and he dug his nail into her, it didn't pierce her skin but it would leave a mark for some time. And then he pulled, a white essence came from Star, and the essence slowly formed into a white model of Star that was connected with Star. With her soul exposed he used his free hand to dig under his hoodie and t-shirt and accidentally pierced his own chest but he pulled anyway, luckily he didn't damage himself further.

Star's soul immediately smashed into Marco's soul like two magnets and his soul wasn't even formed yet. Marco gritted his teeth in pain while Star bit into her fabric that also worked to muffle her voice.

His soul was finally formed and he could see where they were connected. He was a bit disappointed with how transparent his soul was where Stars could be mistaken for marble.

The two souls were chest to chest and Marco knew where he had to cut. He pulled his scissors from his hoodie and coated them in the red glow like his hands.

"Star, I am sorry but this is where it's going to hurt."

"Ichs orkeee" Star said with her cover in her mouth.

He nods which he then followed by inwardly berating himself because she has her eyes close and can't see him. He shakes his head and then focuses on the two souls. He then begins to cut into Star's soul and she immediately begins screaming into her cover. He cuts some of her chest and stomach off, everything that is in direct contact with his soul, and when he cuts the last touching piece. He feels...

He sees the cutoff pieces being absorbed into his and how the marble-like chunks get dissolved.

He separates the two souls with ease and with his free hand he pulls his soul and absorbs it. He puts his scissors back into his hoodie pocket and grabs her soul. He pushes the soul in Star and removes the cover from her face, "You can open your eyes now."

Star was sweating and out cold. He lifted her up bridal style and placed her properly on her bed. And then it was time for Tom. He went out and headed for the garden.

"You could have her unconscious and spare her the pain."

"I could, but... I also wanted to know how much she wants to revive our friendship."

"That's kinda a dick move and not mention your deal."

"I'm going to make myself miserable by being with Star, so I deserve some compensation. Besides, it, can't be healthy to repeatably lose your soul and with our arrangement, she has to give up at some point."

"I'm kinda proud, but you have just ami-"

"Yeah I love Star, but at the end of the day, love is a chemical reaction and it only has meaning if we give it meaning. And if I choose to chase Star I give it a meaning, a bad one."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"You my fucking therapist now?"

"No, but... Fuck you then."

"...I don't know...I just want Star to be happy, but just not at my expense. And... I'm sure Tom will do just that, he is a nice guy and I kinda like him."

"But we are still-"

"We are still gonna beat his ass, just not completely."

"That's very confident coming from you."

"Ah-ha." Signaling the end of the conversation, he began psyching himself up and focus on the thing to come while his partner allowed him to do so.

Marco reached the entrance and saw Tom, but he was pacing back and forth. He decided to wait a bit and think of possible things Tom would have on his chest. After watching him for a minute or two he decided to end his wait.

Marco strolled in and Tom saw him instantly. "Finally, I'm going to kick your ass"

"I feel the same, but the garden is such a beautiful place," Marco says as he lightly smiles which borders on a smirk.

"As if you could bring me to destroy this place...But I don't want to risk Star seeing your ass getting beat."

Marco shook his head. Even now he thinks of her. "Any place in mind"

"Yeah, my home"

"Well. You do need all the help you can get."

" You!..." Tom takes a deep breath. " Let's get going."

Marco walked after Tom to the teleport room. They ignored the silent glares of the residents they passed.

"I guess even they wouldn't act against a prince."

"No, I'm just not a coward."

"I did fight back once and your girlfriend made sure I wouldn't try again."

"I seriously doubt that...Even if she did it couldn't be that bad."

"No, just adding 12 hours on top of 18-hour work shift, for fucking 6 weeks! Not to mention for a racist fucking knight!... Luckily that bitch of a squire wants to be a knight more than she hates me, so it was only about 8 hours added"

Tom eyed Marco from the side.

"Curious about how I managed a 26-hour work schedule? The answer; organize"

"Look there-" Tom felt glares on him and immediately shut them down with a glare of his own. The kind of which his eyes turn white and his demon features more prominent. "No time to wait, we are almost there."

They soon reached their destination and there wasn't any altercation only silent judgment from the guards. The insides of the dome building were pretty with wall paints of various queens of Mewni. If you looked up there were balconies with a few dozen archers.

Tom summoned a carriage with fire. They both got in and vanished just as quickly.

* * *

Marco got out of the carriage and found himself in a dry plain with nothing in sight, it was hot and at least 50 degrees.

"So, how-" Was all Marco was allowed to say before he found a fist in his face.

"That's for what you did to Star and this for what you are doing to me!"

Marco blocks the kick coming for his face and allows the force to send him on his feet. "You done?"

"Just getting started. This is for being an idiot." Tom charged him which Marco dodged.

"If that's," He dodges the continued assault by Tom, "the level of grievances," He grips an unavoidable punch " then we can be here all day."

Tom stopped his assault and Marco made space. "I'm not good with words and stuff."

"Unless when you are raging?"

Tom nods, "That is something I've always envied you for."

Marco took a battle stance and Tom summoned fireballs in his palms. Marco charged to quickly close the distance and Tom retaliated by jumping back and throwing fireballs which he dodged. "I've also envied how cool you are."

"Are you for real?" Marco's partner asks which Marco could only agree.

"I thought you were the cool one." He says as he dodges another pair of fireballs.

"I did too but then I realized, I never do stuff and you have an awesome dragon-cycle... and friends."

They were now in close-quarter combat and in one that Marco dominated. For every attack Tom did a counter would hit him and every attack Marco did a feeble block would sometime intercept.

"You have-" An unexpected tail whip barely grazed him and that somehow made them agree to take a break to talk.

Tom's nose ran with blood and swellings were formed on his face. "No! Not like you have. You have Kelly, the forger of dimensional scissors, even fucking Ponyhead and everybody on earth."

"You do know there are 7 billion people on earth and not just the ones you have met, right?"

"Don't get sassy with me. I have few friends, very few like none existing."

"Wow, that's sad." Marco's partner commentated.

"And now you are choosing to lose a friend, your very best friend at that."

"We were losing our friendship ever since I became her squire. I've learned, you can't be friends with your boss when you are on shift. Outside? Sure, but not under, and squirting start when she wants and ends when she wants, and I can't remember when last she wanted it to end."

"Have you asked it to end? How about quitting."

"Does it even matter? She gave me the most dangerous job and I thought it was because she knew I could handle it and trusted me, but then I learned she simply didn't know and that's not the worst of it, we... we both know why she didn't know. I was! I was just a problem and typical of Star she just uses the first solution, no thought and certainly no regards... And yes I did try..."

"but?"

"Three words: I need you," Marco said with an added sucker-punch to resume the fight and it sent Tom to the ground. Tom screamed in rage and began to fly. "Now that's hardly fair."

Tom didn't care and he rained down fireballs. " It also infuriates me that you are the one most relies on."

"So you have an inferiority complex?" Marco asked as he picks up stones while dodging his attacks. Tom stopped attacking to think and when he wanted to talk he felt a stone in his gut. "Are you kidding?! You feel inferior to me, a fucking nobody! You are a prince of the underworld with magic!"

Stones launched every few seconds along with Marco's rant which Tom dodged to the best of his ability. "Star is a magical princess, Ponyhead is the same, Kelly is an awesome warrior from a warmongering race and then there's me, an earth-turd among 7 billion. If anyone can feel inferior it's me!" And with the end of his rant, his last stone was thrown with all his might and hit him straight in the face knocking him out of the air and straight to the ground.

"You didn't hold back on the last one."

"And?"

"And he should properly get some medical attention."

"..." Marco listened to his partner and carried the bloody and bruised body of Tom into his carriage and told the skeleton horse to bring him home.

"Is he ready?" Luna asks her brother.

"No, he isn't ready, but we can do no more for him."

"It is only a matter of time before he is swallowed by our cruel game, isn't it?."

"Worry not. He is already playing, he just doesn't know it yet."

"Are you serious? What am I asking, of course you are." Solis just shrugged "At least tell me you didn't just leave him in the middle of nowhere and a direction"

"Am I becoming predictable?" Luna massaged her temple in his response while Solis silently laugh. "Worry not dear sister, he can thrive in our war. The reason he isn't ready is simply his mind, he may be capable as our champion, however, he isn't thinking like one, but the dimension he is in will shape him."

* * *

**I've been wondering how to continue. I've been thinking of using a character that isn't important to the story but feels the effect of Marco, of his action and his decision. So there can be made more than one view of the story, but I feel like that could be complicated, too complicated for my skill. Anyway hope you enjoyed it**


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